No special diet for HIV positive inmates: Malawi Prisoners worried about their health

Dec 09, 2016 Politics 44
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Investigations Malawi24 recently conducted at Mzimba and Mzuzu prisons have established that inmates who are living with HIV are not being given balanced diet.

It has also been established that due to insufficient food supply in the stated prisons, inmates are not being given adequate food.

According to some inmates Malawi24 managed to talk to, the situation is subjecting their lives to more health risks as their body immune systems are becoming prone to numerous diseases.

malawi-prison
Prisoners in Malawi outcry. (Google image)

“We were told to be living positively with the virus, but then how can we do so, when we continue being fed poorly? We are heavily affected by the diet here,” said one inmate at Mzimba prison.

 Another prisoner at Mzuzu prison told our team during a recent visit that he fails to follow the recommended dosage of ARVs because of the bad diet.

 He said health experts advised him to be eating balanced diet if the life prolonging drugs are to work effectively for his immune system.

“So with beans and vegetables everyday, I feel it’s useless to take the drugs because they won’t work effectively,” he said.

Separate findings exposed how inmates are subjected to various diseases owing to congestion.

At Mzuzu prison, there are more than 500 prisoners against the recommended number of 250 a situation which inmates say puts them at risk of contracting various diseases.

“Skin and other respiratory diseases easily spread here. We are very congested. Prison is hell in Malawi,” said an inmate.

Health expert, Adams Chirwa, concurred with the prisoners on the raised concerns and described the worries as genuine.

“It is recommended for someone who is HIV positive to be having a balanced diet, otherwise, the consequences of failing to follow the procedure might be at owner’s risk,” he stressed.

Prison authorities in the northern region did not respond to a questionnaire we sent them.

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44 Comments

  1. Govmnt must open farms for dem azizilimila chakudyacho than mumene akuwasungilamo ngati zoweta, at de end budget nkumakula ya boma coz of chakudya cha akaidi.

  4. Nothing can be done to assist them. .because they have no freedom hence they should be smashed down with hard labour. .May be there will be reduction of HIV patients in our hospitals

    3. Ambiri Kumeneko Ndi Mbava! Kwa Onamizilidwawo Mulungu Ali Ndi Njira Yake Imene Amapulumutsira Oterowo Mwamva Inu Amene Simunabeledwekonu?
      Special Diet Akayipezere Kundende?

    4. Ngati akufuna special diet awatsegulire ma farms azizilimira plus de same food azipangaso supply muma Boarding secondary schools ndi muzipatala, koma osati mumene akuwasungilamo ngati ziweto komaso akumaononga misonkho ya boma kumawadyesa.

  12. We are all human beings,no matter crime somebody comited,we are all the same.We are all waiting for God’s judgment.Someone is there,but will be in heaven leaving us who are outside the bars of prison in hell.Lets not judge others for we are going to be judged.

    2. did you know that the man who introduced the policy that prisoners shud eat once a day himself went on to serve a considerable jail term.. A dose of his own medicine you can say that. Prison is a place for Reformation not death.

  17. There needs to be special diet for the Hiv positive prisoners. prison is not a death camp but a place for correction of behavior which is in breach of the constitution.

    2. my friend people living with Hiv And Aids Without Gud Diet They Cant Sarvive Its Just The Same As Killing Them!!ARVs without gud food they cant work they have lethal side effects

  24. The govt has to do something ,those people deserve some special treatment recipite from the fact that they are prisoners, don’t get me wrong,i have said this cause i know that the system isn’t that just,not everyone who is in prison is guilty for crimes they were convicted of

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