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Section
Health in prison
When ICRC delegates visit prisoners, they are always accompanied by medical staff, who assess inmates' health and look into all consequences of ill-treatment, whether physical or psychological. Access to documents describing conditions for such visits and the issue of torture.
©ICRC/B. Hoffman/il-e-00106
Azerbaijan: Tuberculosis unit for detainees in Baku
ICRC medical staff always accompany delegates on their visits to places of detention, in order to assess the inmates' health and look into all consequences of ill-treatment, whether physical or psychological.
World TB Day, 24 March 2008
As part of global efforts to raise awareness of the deadly threat of TB, and the measures being taken to counter it, BBC correspondent Imogen Faulkes went to Kyrgyztan to see the ICRC's work in helping to tackle the problem in prisons. Her reports will be broadcast on BBC radio and TV around 24 March.

The ICRC has made a footage on the subject, which is available to TV stations; its producer, Jan Powell, has written a feature for this website.


The doctors and nurses who participate in these visits are well versed in the specific problems of prison health, such as hygiene, epidemiology, nutritional needs and vitamin deficiencies. Their role is to try to identify, assess and prioritize any public health problems which exist in the prisons they visit.

When the risk of a health problem in prison is so great that the response capacity of the penitentiary health service is overwhelmed, the ICRC can implement programmes to address these problems, such as tackling vitamin deficiencies, assisting in vector control, improving sanitary installations, obtaining equitable and efficient medical services for all prisoners. In certain exceptional cases, it can take more specific action such as running tuberculosis programmes and building capacity in dealing with HIV/AIDS.

Addressing health problems of prison inmates also includes medical assessments as to whether detainees have been the victims of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In such cases, apart from documenting torture in a professional way, ICRC doctors also provide support and counselling for victims of such abuse.

See also on this site : Protecting prisoners and detainees in wartime

Key document
    20-3-2008
    Kyrgyzstan: fighting drug-resistant TB in the prisons
    Prisons in Kyrgyzstan have long been a breeding ground for tuberculosis, including drug-resistant strains that are extremely difficult to treat. The ICRC is helping the authorities to tackle this deadly infectious illness in prisons. Jan Powell reports from the Kyrgyzstan capital, Bishkek.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Kyrgyzstan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    17-3-2008
    World Water Day: overcrowding in prisons poses global water and sanitation challenges
    The rising number of detainees and prisoners in many conflict-affected countries is putting a major strain on the coping capacity of detention centres to meet inmates' water, sanitation and overall public health needs. In many societies, prisons are forgotten or neglected, causing them to become breeding grounds for disease due to a lack of clean water, limited access to latrines, inadequate waste management, poor hygiene and overcrowded living quarters.
    (ICRC Activities\Assistance\Water and habitat)
    Feature Includes Photo

Torture
    31-3-2002
    Visits to prisoners and documentation of torture
    Extract from "The medical documentation of torture", edited by Micheal Peel, chapter 5, pp.77-100, Geenwich Medical Media, London, 2002.
    (ICRC Activities\Assistance\Health\Health in prison)
    Hernan Reyes

Event
    18-5-2006
    Doctors working in prison: human rights and ethical dilemmas
    Online course
    Many of those held in prisons around the world do not receive adequate medical care. To improve their access to quality health services, the ICRC has participated in a World Medical Association project to produce an internet-based course for doctors working in prisons.
    (Info resources\Events)
    Event

FAQ
    15-2-2005
    What is the definition of torture and ill treatment?
    International humanitarian law prohibits torture and other forms of ill treatment at all times and demands that detainees be treated according to the rules and principles of IHL and other international standards.
    (Info resources\Frequently asked questions)
    FAQ

    15-2-2005
    What is the ICRC's position on torture and ill treatment?
    The ICRC rejects the use of torture and other forms of ill treatment under any circumstances. It believes the respect for human life and dignity precludes any justification for ill treatment.
    (Info resources\Frequently asked questions)
    FAQ

Feature
    1-4-2008
    A journalist in Kyrgyzstan's prisons: re-learning how to "hurry up and wait"
    Imogen Foulkes is the BBC correspondent in Geneva. She recently travelled to Kyrgyzstan to report on the ICRC's support for efforts to fight multi-drug-resistant TB in prisons. Before flying home she contributed this report to icrc.org.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Kyrgyzstan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    12-4-2007
    Azerbaijan: TB mortality rate in prisons is decreasing
    With the support of the ICRC, the TB mortality rate in Azerbaijani prisons has decreased 10-12 fold since 2000. Just a few years ago, a 38 year-old detainee could never have imagined that he would not only survive TB, but be fully cured.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Azerbaijan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    23-3-2006
    Azerbaijan: improving access to treatment for tuberculosis in prisons
    When Natiq Agiyev was sixteen years old he watched his older brother Shahin fade away over the course of a year. He remembers that doctors did not want to look after his brother because his family could not find money for the treatment of Shahin's tuberculosis (TB).
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Azerbaijan)
    Feature

ICRC Publication
    23-9-2005
    Water, sanitation, hygiene and habitat in prisons
    The handbook provides a summary of the technical expertise gained by ICRC engineers when dealing with environmental engineering problems commonly found in places of detention. Detailed drawings are used to outline solutions on a range of related issues such as water supply, sewage and waste disposal, food preparation, vector control, general hygiene and health. This handbook is intended for all those who work in prisons and who can contribute to the improvement of the conditions of detention for persons deprived of their freedom.
    (Info resources\ICRC publications and films\Publications\Assistance)
    ICRC Publication Includes PDF

International Review of the Red Cross
    4-2-2008
    International Review of the Red Cross, 2007 - No. 867
    Special issue : Torture. This issue of the International Review deals with historical, legal, social, psychological and political questions relating to torture. It includes a discussion on the legal interpretations of the notion of torture, cruel or inhuman treatment and psychological torture, and analyses the context in which torture occurs and has occurred in the past.
    (Humanitarian law\IHL in brief\IHL and human rights)
    International Review of the Red Cross

Interview
Job opportunity
    31-3-2008
    Profession: Delegate
    in the field
    (About the ICRC\Human resources\Skills always in demand)
    Job opportunity Includes Photo

Press article
    31-3-2006
    Mental Health in prisons
    People with mental illnesses are especially vulnerable during war and its immediate aftermath. Red Cross Red Crescent explores this little-known theme through the experiences of Jean Rey-Bellet, who has been on several missions for the ICRC, notably in Yemen and Bosnia and Herzegovina - Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2006
    (ICRC Activities\Assistance\Health\Health in prison)
    Press article

More in this section
    22-3-2007
    Pitfalls of TB management in prisons, revisited
    The pitfalls of TB management in prisons were previously already identified as many. Today, with the spread of MDR-TB, and even worse forms of resistance already on the horizon, it is all the more essential that prison health staff know about these pitfalls, so as to ensure adequate treatment of the disease and prevent development of drug-resistance
    (ICRC Activities\Assistance\Health\Health in prison)
    Hernán Reyes

    30-9-2006
    Body searches in place of detention
    Body searches should be used only after all other means of investigation have been employed. Doctors have no role to play in strip searches. In exceptional cases, when requested by the authorities or the prisoner for a valid reason, their participation in body-cavity searches may be justified. In such cases, the doctor’s role will be that of medical expert, which should not compromise his role as care provider.
    (ICRC Activities\Protection\Detention)
    Hernán Reyes Includes PDF

    24-6-2005
    Torture: the need to move forward
    The 1984 UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment entered into force on 26 June 1987. But even though torture is strictly prohibited, it remains common in many countries.
    (ICRC Activities\Protection\Detention)
    Alain Aeschlimann, Head of the Protection Division at the ICRC

    25-6-2004
    Torture : “…the first step is to break down the wall of silence”
    Comment by Alain Aeschlimann, head of the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency and Protection division, on the occasion of the UN's international day in support of victims of torture, 26 June.
    (ICRC Activities\Protection\Detention)



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4-07-2008