Malawi Prison Service says prisons in the country have 16,010 inmates and a holding capacity of 8,000 but only 42 inmates are currently on Tuberculosis (TB) treatment after testing positive for the disease.
Speaking to Malawi24, Malawi Prisons Service Spokesperson Chimwemwe Shawa said despite the country’s prisons being congested, officials are trying their best to contain the disease and make sure that prisoners are protected from the disease.
“So as prisons we have put in place some measures to prevent further spread of TB in our prisons like having early detection and putting the ones found with TB on early treatment. It is advised by the Ministry of Health that once someone is diagnosed positive of TB, he/she should be put on early treatment so we are doing that,” said Shawa.
Shawa further noted that as MPS, they do have mass screening twice a year where they screen prisoners for different diseases including TB.
He added that they sensitize and educate prisoners on the four cardinals signs of TB so that all presumptive TB patients should be diagnosed and once the prisoners test positive, they are put on TB treatment.
“So, we believe that such initiatives have helped us to at least effectively manage the spread of TB in prisons. That’s why we are saying as much we are congested, as much as we are at 100 percent congestion rate, we still have 0.5 prevalence rate in our prisons,” said Shawa.
Shawa also alluded that the congestion is a big threat to the fight against TB because TB management requires adequate space.
“So, the threat is still there because prisons are still congested but we are doing our best to make sure that we still contain the spread of TB in prisons,” said Shawa.
