title: Appropriate medical care for persons in detention.
abstract: The people who are in detention are screened by the Medical Officer of the Prison and if they are found to be unwell, these prisoners will be accommodated in the sickbay and medical treatment will be provided. If their sickness needs further investigations and management, they will be sent to the Government Hospital. If the prisoners are found to have infectious or contagious diseases, steps will be taken to prevent the spread of these diseases to other prisoners in the prison. Prisoners are given time to exercise to maintain good health and their clothing are regularly washed to make sure that they will not contract skin diseases, e.g. scabies, ringworm, etc. The Prison Department since 1989 has increasing numbers of HIV positive prisoners. The Department complies with this problem by sending staff for courses, lectures and seminars so that they will be able to handle these prisoners more efficiently in the prison. When these HIV/AIDS prisoners' condition turns bad, they are usually transferred to a Government Hospital. Another of the Prison Department's prominent medical problem among the prisoners is drug addiction. Staff trained with skill and techniques are counselors for the drug related prisoners. Realizing and in anticipation that the sickbays in the prisons are going to be full of HIV/AIDS prisoners and drug related prisoners, special attention will be given to more allocation to upgrade the sickbays in the prison. White attires will be provided to the sick prisoners in the sickbays so that they will look neat and clean. More doctors, medical assistants and nurses will be employed so that appropriate medical care or rather more appropriate medical care can be provided to the sick prisoners in the prisons. The Prison Department is in the process of privatizing medical care for prisoners in the prison and the Department is also trying to convert some prisons to be medical prisons so that adequate medical care can be given to the sick prisoners.
authors.affiliation: Penang Prison, Malaysia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Idris
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D011329:Prisoners