The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has called for prisons to adopt pilot needle-exchange schemes to reduce the spread of deadly infections among inmates.
The trust said new research gave the clearest evidence yet that syringe swapping was safe, effective and necessary.
Mr Rick Lines, IPRT executive director and co-author of the study, said the alarming rate of HIV, hepatitis C and injecting drug use in jails demanded urgent attention.
"To provide syringe exchange in prisons is not to condone drug use," Mr Lines said. "Rather, it is a pragmatic public health measure that should accompany other efforts to reduce drug-related harm, such as drug treatment programmes."
Mr Lines added there were moral and social obligations on the Government to protect prisoners, staff and the public from the further spread of disease.
The international study, Prison Needle Exchange: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of International Evidence and Experience, found syringe-exchange programs reduced risk behaviour and disease transmission; did not endanger staff or prisoner safety; and made prisons safer places for both staff and prisoners.
It also found needle exchanges did not increase drug use or injecting and was successfully implemented in a wide variety of prison environments. Six countries across Europe and central Asia have adopted such schemes to create a safer environment for drug users.
The Green Party justice spokesman, Mr Ciaran Cuffe, called for the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to at least introduce a pilot scheme. "The report shows that a properly managed needle-exchange programme can reduce health risks to both inmates and staff," he said.
The report also showed fears of violence, increased drug consumption, and other negative consequences never materialised after the schemes were begun.
It stated that needle-exchange programs effectively and successfully addressed the issues of injecting drug use, HIV, and hepatitis in prisons. But the IPRT said reformers would have to overcome political and ideological views and public apathy before changes could be made.