Among the problems are: (1)The age and unsuitability of prison hospital ward facilities. This state of affairs is partly due to the fact that the prisons themselves are antiquated, overcrowded and do not have any purpose built hospital wards. (2)The shortage of medical personnel and medicine. (3)The shortage of isolation wards for contagious illnesses. (4)The lack of structures for the medical and psychological welfare of the ever-increasing numbers of AIDS infected prisoners. Certain NGOs, particularly religious groups, help prisons by donating foodstuffs and medicines. In Tete province prisoners suffering from tuberculosis and illnesses caused by under-nourishment receive a glass of milk every day from a religious NCO. According to the NGOs met by the delegation, most prisons in the interior of the country do not have qualified medical personnel. In sonic cases, it is merely staff with knowledge of first aid who work in prison hospital wards.A field visit can ied out in 2000 by those NGOs was able to highlight the poor management practices with regard to prisoners' illness. In Nampula, at that time, the NGOs observed that there was an almost complete absence of medicine in the prison pharmacy. The shortage of transport and the fact that authorisation from the prison warden was not forthcoming has meant that with certain prisoner illnesses, deaths occur without patients ever having been examined in a hospital. In the female piism in N'davela, a pregnant woman went into labour and gave birth without being sent to hospital or being seen by a midwife. In the same prison, an outbreak of food poisoning happened during the same period. However, there were no deaths. Findings T he prison hospital ward in Maputo Civil Prison consisted of a first aid room and a doctor's surgery. A third loom served as a small pharmacy. There is no room where patients can be hospitalised, nor is there an area for the isolation of contagious illnesses. A doctor visits the prison 2 or 3 times a week to examine prisoners who are on a list of patients waiting to be seen. A retired nurse who is still working full-time at the prison carries out a preliminary examination. The most prominent disorders are, in order of importance: malnutrition, skin complaints, diandwea, AIDS and tuberculosis. Basic medicines were present in 22 the pharmacy at the time of the delegation's visit. During the visit to prison cells, the delegation witnessed numerous sick prisoners who required urgent hospital treatment but who had not yet been examined by the prison medical service. Examples were that of a 22-year-old person, who was suffering from osteomyelitis aggravated by anaemia; an 18-year-old prisoner suffering from a swelling of the pubis after post- operative complications; and a 20 year old with 2 highly infected lineal wounds to his left foot, which measured approximately 1 cm in depth and 4 cm in length. He had been injured in prison by a splinter of glass, but after 9 days he had still not been attended to despite several attempts. Despite witnessing these and other cases, prison authorities informed the li.d.ition that the prison doctor is permanently on call for any injuries that (Hid that urgent cases were not a problem as they were forwarded to the hospital. Public transport is used on such occasions because the prison does not have its own vehicle. It should he noted that NGOs do not take any role in medical assistance in this prison and that the prisoner information and education programme on HIV/AIDS was not nearly as well developed as that of other prisons visited. T he Maputo Central Prison has a sufficiently large hospital ward, which is equipped and has around twenty hospital beds. A separate building serves as an isolation wing. A nurse, a health worker and three first aid staff are employed full-time in the prison. Hygiene standards seem to be respected in the hospital ward, which also has a well-stocked pharmacy. At the time of the visit, 2 of the 10 patients who had been treated for cholera during the week were still in the ward. This disease had been the cause of two deaths the previous week However, all the necessary medicines for the treatment of the disease were available. In the isolation wing for contagious illnesses, all patients suffering from tuberculosis had been grouped together and were undergoing intensive heatment. There were 42 patients in the monitoring stage of treatment in this room at the time of visit. They ale observed directly by a nurse who is a fellow initiate. Six people died of AIDS during the first quarter of 2001 and 4 new cases have been diagnosed during the same period. Homosexual behaviour is commonplace in this overcrowded prison where certain prisoners are known for their behaviour. However, there is an important information programme underway for prisoners on sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. This successful pilot programme carried out by NGOs includes posteis that are display in all prison buildings reminding prisoners of the dangers of AIDS. s on the posteis include: "Think about your life". "Avoid AIDS". Durind i s \ isu to cells the delegation kin 23