TB, HIV/AIDS major cause of death in prisons
Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS remain the leading cause of death among the inmates of the country’s prisons.
Out of 84 deaths recorded in the prisons in 2009, 19 resulted from TB, while 11 were from HIV/AIDS, with malaria being the cause of three deaths.
Other diseases such as anaemia, liver disease, septic shock, cardiac attack, asthmatic attack, rabies, among others, were identified as the other causes of death among the inmates.
The Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, ASP Courage Atsem, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said one problem facing the service was the inability to screen convicts for HIV before they were put into the prisons.
That, he said, was because HIV/AIDS screening was voluntary and, therefore, prisons officials could not subject anyone to forced screening.
On TB infections, he said the Contagious Disease Prison (CDP) at Ankaful provided services for inmates to manage the disease, after which they were sent back to their respective prisons.
ASP Atsem noted that malaria was not predominant among the inmates because intensive efforts were being made to keep the best of hygiene and sanitation at the prisons.
Again, he said, inmates were encouraged to keep the prison environment clean at all times.
He said the needed attention was being given to intensify HIV/AIDS and TB control activities to reduce mortality among the inmates.
He said the Prisons AIDS Control Programme (PACP) continued to maintain its focus by designing interventions geared towards awareness creation and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).
ASP Atsem said the PACP was currently drawing a five-year strategic plan to address the issue, as prison inmates had been identified as one of the groups referred to as most-at-risk populations (MARPs).
Out of 84 deaths recorded in the prisons in 2009, 19 resulted from TB, while 11 were from HIV/AIDS, with malaria being the cause of three deaths.
Other diseases such as anaemia, liver disease, septic shock, cardiac attack, asthmatic attack, rabies, among others, were identified as the other causes of death among the inmates.
The Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, ASP Courage Atsem, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said one problem facing the service was the inability to screen convicts for HIV before they were put into the prisons.
That, he said, was because HIV/AIDS screening was voluntary and, therefore, prisons officials could not subject anyone to forced screening.
On TB infections, he said the Contagious Disease Prison (CDP) at Ankaful provided services for inmates to manage the disease, after which they were sent back to their respective prisons.
ASP Atsem noted that malaria was not predominant among the inmates because intensive efforts were being made to keep the best of hygiene and sanitation at the prisons.
Again, he said, inmates were encouraged to keep the prison environment clean at all times.
He said the needed attention was being given to intensify HIV/AIDS and TB control activities to reduce mortality among the inmates.
He said the Prisons AIDS Control Programme (PACP) continued to maintain its focus by designing interventions geared towards awareness creation and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).
ASP Atsem said the PACP was currently drawing a five-year strategic plan to address the issue, as prison inmates had been identified as one of the groups referred to as most-at-risk populations (MARPs).
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