Sixteen inmates died in the Faisalabad prison last year owing to a lack of basic medical and health facilities, speaking the volume of negligence on the part of authorities concerned.
According to jail sources, the situation in Faisalabad Central Jail and District Jail has worsened due to a lack of treatment facilities for the inmates. The doctors on a permanent basis are not posted here. As the medical condition of the inmates deteriorates, they are shifted to the inmate ward at the District Headquarters Hospital. Upon arrival, the doctors in DHQ Hospital provide treatment to the inmates, but due to ‘delays’ in arrival, the inmates lose their lives.
According to sources, there are currently more than 500 prisoners suffering from infectious diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis in the jails. But the Jail does not have doctors to treat them, which is posing a question mark over the performance of the Prison Department.
During this year, 16 prisoners of various cases including murder and drug trafficking lost their lives due to ‘late’ arrival in the Hospital.
However, 70 prisoners have recovered from the minor illness in the prison ward of the DHQ Hospital and retransferred to Jail after recovering from illness.
According to prison sources, there are currently 65 AIDS and 481 Hepatitis C inmates in the Central and District Jails. And in terms of the number of patients suffering from these diseases, the Central Jail is at the forefront in the province. Regarding the deaths of inmates in the jails, the jail administration said that it had sent several letters to the authorities concerned regarding the unavailability of permanent doctors for the inmates but the permanent appointment of a doctor has not been possible yet.