C HAPTER 8. H EALTH SCREENING FOR ALL NEW PRISONERS OBJECTIVE The objective of this chapter is to stress that a prisoner’s right to proper health care begins at the point of admission to custody. ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES It is a basic requirement that all prisoners should be given a medical examination as soon as they have been admitted to a prison or place of detention. Any necessary medical treatment should then be provided free of charge. Prisoners should generally have the right to request a second medical opinion. These principles should be presented visually and remain on display throughout the session. BASIS IN INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS Exercise: Using the Compilation of Instruments, the trainees should work in pairs in order to discover the basis for each of these principles. Check on their work by asking for reports from several of the pairs. IMPLICATIONS The important message is that on matters of health the prisoner is a human being first and a detainee second. An illness or disease, whether contracted before or during a sentence of detention, must be treated to ensure the welfare of the individual. It must never be conditional on anything. Diagnosis is an area of concern. It can be as damaging to an individual’s welfare to be diagnosed as ill, especially mentally ill, when he or she is not as it is to remain undiagnosed when actually ill. This subject area is likely to bring forth anecdotal examples from the trainees’ own experience. If these include many examples of apparent misuse of medical resources by detainees, ensure that you do not allow this to detract from the point being made. No number of misuses can alter the principle. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS When presenting these, be prepared to offer advice to trainees should they highlight difficulties at their own place of work or within their jurisdiction. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION A list of topics is provided in the Manual. 63