report submitted to the Parliament in 2013 contained a recommendation on studying
the cases of those patients who had refused to continue with anti-TB medication either
because of side effects of the drug or because they had been asking for treatment
of one of co-infections. The recommendation also called on relevant stakeholders to
ensure the timely treatment of co-infections if such need would be established. Sadly,
the recommendation has never been implemented and the number of referrals has
decreased by 192 cases in 2014.
Side effects of the anti-TB drugs have negative effects on TB treatment and therefore,
psychological support to patients during the treatment and control of their mental
condition is of utmost importance. However, there is no psychiatrist or a psychologist
working in the centre. Moreover, the examination of relevant documentation revealed
that there has been no consultation provided by a psychiatrist in the cetnre from May
to November 2014.
A recommendation of the Public Defender to refer every prisoner diagnosed with TB
to the TB Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre for better management has never been
considered.
In 2013 report the Public Defender issued a recommendation to amend the Decree
01-5/N of the Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of January 31, 2014 on
Approving the Programme on Prevention, Detection and Treatment of Hepatitis C in
Prisons and other Detention Institutions so that anti-viral treatment be provided to
every inmate/accused based on medical evidence. The Public Defender welcomes
the implementation of the recommendation as a result of which the provision of the
decree allowing anti-viral treatment to those inmates who were sentenced to more
than 18 months had been abolished. Nowadays, there are no restrictions in terms of
lengths and duration of a sentence.
Based on the information provided by the Ministry of Corrections 8711 inmates
were tested for hepatitis in 2014 and 289 of them were treated against the disease.
Importantly, a recommendation of the Public Defender to provide an anti-viral
treatment to patients based on relevant medical evidence has not been implemented.
9081 inmates were tested for HIV/AIDS in 2014. 56 inmates were involved in anti-viral
treatment of HIV/AIDS throughout 2014.
The monitoring revealed that the penitentiary system experiences problems related
to full compliance to the infections control requirements, provision of a cold change
as per the legislation, disinfection and sterilization of multi-use medical instruments,
items and materials, allocation of safety boxes and containers to collect sharp objects
and syringes. The problems related to lack of information on preventative healthcare
among inmates are also striking.
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM OF GEORGIA
119
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