Health check-ups for prisoners
Nadira GUNATILLEKE
Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has decided to submit all
prisoners for health check ups before they are imprisoned. A full health
screening will be done on all convicted prisoners for both communicable
and non communicable diseases before they are imprisoned. This will help
safeguard their rights, a Health Ministry spokesman said.
According to the spokesman, all prisoners will have to have a ‘Health
Report’ and it can be compared when they are released.
This health report will enable doctors to compare their health status
at the time they are put into prison and at the time of their release.
The health report includes everything such as the status of their
sight, dental status, dermatological status etc. The spokesman said that
all prisons will be repaired in coordination with Prisons and
Rehabilitation Ministry to establish a healthy environment for all
prisoners. Dirty and congested environments inside prisons promote
diseases among prisoners. The project will be implemented under the
direction of Minister Sirisena with the objective of ensuring health
rights of all prisoners. Earlier various health programmes were
conducted by the Health Ministry for the benefit of prisoners, he added.
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