2.5.1.  FUNDING OF THE GEORGIAN PRISON HEALTHCARE; ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS; REFORMS CARRIED OUT According to the information received from the Ministry of Corrections, the Ministry’s Penitentiary Department has separate units for primary healthcare, specialized medical assistance, medical activity regulation, healthcare economy and medical logistics. In 2014, the implementation of the 18-month Penitentiary Healthcare Action Plan was completed. The implementation was positively evaluated by representatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Experts from the Council of Europe helped elaborate a Penitentiary Healthcare Development Strategy for 2014-2017. According to the information we received from the Ministry of Corrections, the following activities were implemented within the Strategy: •• Salaries of the healthcare staff increased by 60% (for example, a doctor’s salary increased from 750 Lari to 1,200 Lari and a nurse’s salary increased from 350 Lari to 750 Lari). •• A primary healthcare model was introduced in one penitentiary institution and is now accessible in all the penitentiary institutions. 214,567 medical consultations were issued at the primary healthcare/outpatient level. •• An electronic medical history (P-HER) and an electronic queue for transferring patients to hospitals were introduced. •• New “Rules of transferring sick prisoners from pretrial detention facilities and places of deprivation of liberty to general hospitals, the Penitentiary Department’s Center for the Treatment of Tuberculosis and Rehabilitation or to the Institution for the Treatment of Remand and Sentenced Prisoners” were drafted and approved in 2014. •• A new Central Penitentiary Hospital was opened. There were 1,122 refer- rals to the Central Penitentiary Hospital (Medical Institution for Accused and Convicted Persons) in 2014. •• When necessary, it is possible to provide medical services to convicted persons in civilian clinics and hospitals. 3,658 referrals were made to the civilian institutions in 2014. •• Standards for penitentiary healthcare medications were developed and approved. Between 2013 and 2014, the expenditure for medications increased thrice: from 64 Lari to 184 Lari. •• Drug-addicted prisoners have access to a methadone detoxication program, a narcologist’s consultation and narcological treatment, detoxication and specialized assistance at the Central Penitentiary Hospital and civilian clinics, testing for infectious diseases and related consultation on a voluntary basis. A long-term methadone replacement therapy program is under development. 84 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM OF GEORGIA