DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/I 35 stations. These should be strengthened and all the mechanisms provided for by law in this matter should be made operational and effective. Health The Chief Medical Officer of Prisons, who is an orthopaedist by training, works as a General Physician. He is based in Windhoek and holds consultations twice a week in the prison of that city. The pathology is varied. The annual report on prisons for the year 2000 indicated that it was dominated, in order of importance, by: high blood pressure, respiratory diseases including tuberculosis, AIDS and mental illness. For the year 2000, there were 311 prisoners with the HIV virus, i.e., 115 new cases in that year alone. Of the 2,600 prisoners who recently took the HIV test, 458 had positive results. Cases of mental illness are also constantly increasing in Namibian prisons. In fact, at the end of 1999 there were 43 cases of prisoners suffering from mental illness for all the prisons. On the date of the visit of the Special Rapporteur's delegation there were at least 222 prisoners suffering from mental illnesses and in hospital in the only clinic near Windhoek prison — Dr Japhet's (Legal Psychiatrist seconded by the Ministry of Health). The delegation was generally satisfied with the manner in which the medical files of the prisoners were kept. An individual medical file is opened for any sick person who attends the Prison Clinic or who has been taken to hospital. Also, an individual therapeutic card is given to each prisoner who comes for consultation for the first time. Statistics on morbidity and mortality are also well maintained. In the year 2000 there were 17 cases of deaths in prison. The same number was also registered in 1999. The available statistics in the prisons visited report a dozen cases of deaths in those prisons for the period from 1 January to 30 August 2001. All the medical services of prisons are rated as 31d category (ABC) and are therefore only supplied with medications for unrestricted use. The Chief Medical Officer expressed his desire that at least the medical service of Windhoek, where he works, should be authorised to handle 2nd category medications, enabling him to care for a larger number of pathologies. All the Prison Clinics receive enough medication and have the medical equipment they need. However, the overcrowding that characterises nearly all Namibian prisons nowadays has also repercussions on their medical services, which sometimes houses twice as many patients as their capacity. Windhoek High Security Prison was, for instance, supposed to receive all prisoners who are HIV positive or suffering from AIDS. Currently however, this is no longer possible, given that the number of cases of AIDS registered in the prisons increases exponentially while the Medical Service is permanently saturated. Areas of Concern Health matters Lack of medical staff The total number of permanent qualified medical staff working in prisons is one doctor and nine nurses. There are 5 prisons in the country which do not have a Medical Service for lack of staff. At Windhoek central prison there is a clinic with 36 beds, also containing a consultation room, a quarantine room for contagious diseases and a pharmacy. This