COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC POLICY IN MANAGEMENTS OF HIV/AIDS PATIENTS BETWEEN AWKA AND ENUGU STATE PRISONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study is a comparative analysis of the Public policy in HIV/AIDs Management among the inmates of two federal prisons in South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria. The design for this study was a case study research design. The population for the study comprised of 3,900 respondents, who are prison inmates. 5% of the population was used as sample, out of which 93 and 95 were inmates of Awka and Enugu prisons respectively. The instrument used for data collection was comparative analysis of the public policy in HIV/AIDs Management in Nigerian prison questionnaire (CAPPM). The Chi-Square statistic was used to test the hypothesis. The Nation is bedeviled by myriads of problems in the prison camps across the states. Indeed, such problems span all aspect of inmate’s life because of flaws in the policy which fail to address the problem of - overcrowding, physical structure, Torture and Other Ill-Treatment, Separation of and situation for women detainees to mention a few. Over the years, governments, engage its major and potent instrument “policy” to address and solve problems of prisons and other issues
that are of public concern by coming up with one reform after another. Despite these efforts of
government, the problem still persists. It is against this backdrop that this paper makes a
comparative analysis of public policy in the management of HIV/AIDS patients, in other to
ascertain the magnitude of compliance to standard and ability to meet the needs of the inmates
in Awka and Enugu Prison, South East Nigeria. The paper concluded that there is no difference
between the public policy in management of HIV/AIDS patients in Awka and Enugu prisons.
Good and beneficial public policies remain a sine-qua-non to good governance, as good and
well-implemented policies drive development nationwide. The study recommended that the
government should greatly change its approach towards the management of public policy on
HIV/AIDS patients if the policy is to be of any relevance and that the government should increase
the participation of non-governmental sectors and civil society organizations in the public policy
management implementation so that it can identify and address the need of the infected and the
vulnerable in the prisons and in the society in general.