–4– Hygiene and health issues 30. The Committee also wishes to call attention to a number of hygiene and health issues in respect of which the needs of women deprived of their liberty differ significantly from those of men. 31. The specific hygiene needs of women should be addressed in an adequate manner. Ready access to sanitary and washing facilities, safe disposal arrangements for blood-stained articles, as well as provision of hygiene items, such as sanitary towels and tampons, are of particular importance. The failure to provide such basic necessities can amount, in itself, to degrading treatment. 32. It is also essential that the health care provided to persons deprived of their liberty be of a standard equivalent to that enjoyed by patients in the outside community. Insofar as women deprived of their liberty are concerned, ensuring that this principle of equivalence of care is respected will require that health care is provided by medical practitioners and nurses who have specific training in women's health issues, including in gynaecology. Moreover, to the extent that preventive health care measures of particular relevance to women, such as screening for breast and cervical cancer, are available in the outside community, they should also be offered to women deprived of their liberty. Equivalence of care also requires that a woman's right to bodily integrity should be respected in places of detention as in the outside community. Thus, where the so-called “morning after” pill and/or other forms of abortion at later stages of a pregnancy are available to women who are free, they should be available under the same conditions to women deprived of their liberty. 33. As a matter of principle, prisoners who have begun a course of treatment before being incarcerated should be able to continue it once detained. In this context, efforts should be made to ensure that adequate supplies of specialist medication required by women are available in places of detention. As regards, more particularly, the contraceptive pill, it should be recalled that this medication may be prescribed for medical reasons other than preventing conception (e.g. to alleviate painful menstruation). The fact that a woman's incarceration may - in itself - greatly diminish the likelihood of conception while detained is not a sufficient reason to withhold such medication.