2,216 Inmates Die In Prisons

Nov 29, 2001

OVER 2,216 inmates have died in Ugandan prisons within 15 years due to poor conditions, a report has said.

By Kikonyogo Ngatya OVER 2,216 inmates have died in Ugandan prisons within 15 years due to poor conditions, a report has said. It states that 85% of the deaths happened in crowded prison cells. Dr Denson Nyabwana, the director of health services in prisons and Dr Eva Kabwongera, a former physician at Mulago Hospital, presented the findings yesterday during the ongoing International Conference on Health Conditions in African prisons in Kampala. “Most of the prisoners die due to preventable and curable diseases. The Government should improve prison conditions,” Kabwongera said. “Not much has been done in developing human resource to cater for inmates,” she added. The report says tuberculosis and other respiratory infections like pneumonia are the leading causes of death, contributing over 34%. Sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, were also ranked high at 12%. She said of all the inmates who died, 76.3% had been attended to by a medical officer and 84.5% were in crowded prisons. Kabwongera said upcountry prisons with poor sanitation exposed prisoners to the risks of contracting diseases. Ends

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