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The role of medical personnel in places of detention
Dr. Jörg Pont gave the keynote address for a full auditorium at
the Parliamentary Ombudsman's human rights seminar on 26 October 2017.
In addition, awareness and training in medical ethics
should be strengthened for healthcare professionals
as well as for non-medical prison staff, and national
professional boards and public health authorities
should actively support and maintain an oversight of
healthcare professionals. With respect to training, the
revised web-based course Doctors Working in Prison:
Human Rights and Ethical Dilemmas23, designed by
the Norwegian Medical Association and adopted
by the WMA and the International Committee of
the Red Cross, another Norwegian pilot project, can
be recommended as well as the Council of Europe
Publication Prison Health Care and Medical Ethics24
and WHO Publication Prisons and Health.25
Finally, many countries should strive to incorporate
principles of medical ethics into penitentiary legislation
and or adapt the legislation to medical ethics. In order
to achieve this goal, greater efforts must be made to
advocate for ‘Prison Health is Public Health’, to ensure
the understanding of the public and politicians.
23 NWA/WMA/ICRC web-based course: Doctors working in prison: Human rights and ethical dilemmas https://nettkurs.
legeforeningen.no/enrol/index.php?id=39
24 Lehtmets A, Pont J: Prison health care and medical ethics. Council of Europe Publishing https://book.coe.int/eur/en/penal-lawand-criminology/6882-pdf-prison-health-care-and-medical-ethics.html
25 WHO Regional Office Europe: Prisons and Health. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/249188/Prisons-and-Health.pdf
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