Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, and C outbreaks are a possibility in the overcrowded 42 Punjab prisons.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, and C outbreaks are a possibility in the overcrowded 42 Punjab prisons.
Inmates at the Attock jail were made aware of this on Monday during an awareness session led by psychologists and health professionals. The purpose of the session was to educate inmates on how to prevent and treat these two fatal diseases.
There are 517 prisoners in 33 jails who have tested positive for hepatitis C, while 272 prisoners in Punjab prisons have HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) according to data.
The speakers said, the Punjab government has decided to supply drugs for serious illnesses in all of the province’s jails. According to prison sources, Punjab has ten jails where people with life-threatening diseases are being held. They claimed that there were 1,000 inmates with hepatitis, asthma, skin cancer, and AIDS.
They claimed that in order to stop the epidemic from spreading, the Punjab government had started intervening in high-risk groups.
Commercial sex workers, drug users, and prisoners are among these high-risk groups. According to them, Pakistan is home to an estimated 130,000 HIV-positive individuals, and major high-risk populations for HIV AIDS prevalence include long-haul truck drivers, female sex workers, transgender people, drug users, inmates of jails, children born to HIV-positive parents, children living on the streets, and those who have undergone unsafe medical procedures.
They continued by saying that research from developed nations has consistently shown that inmates in prison have extremely high HCV antibody prevalence.
The speakers stressed the importance of taking precautions in order to avoid contracting these diseases. According to jail deputy superintendent Afzaal Ahmed Warriach, the Punjab Prisons Department used its various programs to get in touch with the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Departments for treatment.
Pakistan received the British prison system as a colonial legacy. The idea of prison as a place of punishment following conviction dates back to the 18th century. It was designed as a humane substitute for physical punishment.