DOC/OS(MIII)/324c/II On the day of the delegation's visit, there were six patients in bed, one due to high blood pressure, one with asthma, and three with secondary infections in traumatic wounds on their limbs received while working in the fields, a job which prisoners are obliged to do. Another one had multiple fractures which occurred when he was arrested. He had been to the hospital and had the fractured part bandaged. The prisoners told the Special Rapporteur that they were forced to work regardless of the state of their health. Furthermore, they were only given painkillers when they were taken to hospital for consultation. About 30 persons were not working on the day of the visit and looked really exhausted. two qualified nurses, who had been seconded by the district hospital, were At Masaka prison, in charge of the infirmary, which had a consulting room that was also used as a room for treatment and hospitalization. A doctor would come at irregular intervals to the district hospital to see those who were seriously ill. There was no quarantine room for contagious illnesses and the observation room contained neither beds nor mattresses. In this prison, which had 668 inmates on the day of the delegation's visit, i.e., three times its capacity, some diseases such as scabies, diarrhoea and tuberculosis were rife and practically endemic. There were 40 sick persons under observation on the day of the delegation's visit, i.e., twice the capacity of the observation room. Seventeen of them had diarrhoea and eight had scabies. In all, 20 persons were known to be HIV positive, of whom 17 were prisoners and 3 were guards. The test, which was voluntary, was preceded by counselling in which the health personnel of the infirmary took active part. The test was offered by an NGO called TASO o The AIDS Support Organism », which also provided some food for those who were HIV positive. The main problem at this level was the fact that the test was not free of charge, which meant it excluded needy detainees. No HIV test had been carried out in that prison in 2001. Three of the six detainees who had done the test the week before the visit of the Special Rapporteur were found to be HIV positive. Six of the 21 deaths, which had occurred in the prison in 2001, were due to AIDS. Awareness raising sessions about AIDS for the prisoners were only sporadically carried out in this prison, although it had the necessary didactic material, including a video. According to prisoners, the last programme took place end of 2000. The prisoners said that they were sometimes the victims of discrimination or verbal aggressions when they went to the district hospital for treatment. serves as an infirmary for the prison. The two nurses At Kakiika prison a room of 3 to 4 m2 who work there see on average 30 patients per day. The most serious cases are taken to the central prison of M'barara where they have fitted out a space to receive all the sick prisoners coming from other prisons in the region. This prison is contiguous to the regional hospital. On the day of the delegation's visit, 98 sick prisoners, of whom 17 had come from the prison of Kakiika alone, were being kept in this place, under the surveillance of the hospital doctors. At present, this unit contains more than four times its real capacity, which is 50 places. Prisoners complained that they were taken to hospital only when they are about to die. A child died in Kakiika prison in February 2002. The Superintendent of the Kakiika prison took the salutary initiative a few months ago of contacting Dr Gerard Jeger, a dermatologist, and his wife, a general physician, who accepted to consult and treat the sick prisoners as a purely humanitarian gesture. Dr Jeger comes once a month and his wife once a week. This couple's help has considerably reduced the number of sick persons who are taken to hospital. sick people were evacuated to the village health centre at a At the local prison of Kasese, distance of around 800m. When the delegation arrived, at 3:30 pm, four sick persons had not 24