CAT/OP/CHE/ROSP/1 192. The Subcommittee recalls the importance of health as a fundamental right and a factor promoting social reintegration. 193. The Subcommittee wishes to receive additional information on this issue from the State party and calls on it to guarantee to the prison population throughout the territory access to the necessary health care and services free of charge, in accordance with rule 24 (1) of the Nelson Mandela Rules. VIII. Next steps 194. The Subcommittee requests that a reply to the present report be provided within six months from the date of its transmission to the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. In the reply, the State party is invited to respond directly to all the recommendations and requests for further information made in the present report, and to give an account of action that has already been taken or is planned (including timescales) in order to implement the recommendations. 195. Article 15 of the Optional Protocol prohibits any form of sanction or reprisal, from any source, against anyone who has been, or who has sought to be, in contact with the Subcommittee. The Subcommittee reminds the State party of its obligation to ensure that no such sanctions or reprisals take place and requests that, in its replies, it provide detailed information concerning the steps it has taken to ensure that this obligation has been fulfilled. 196. The Subcommittee recalls that prevention of torture and ill-treatment is a continuing and wide-ranging obligation. It therefore requests that Switzerland inform it of any legislative, regulatory, policy or other relevant developments relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty and regarding the national preventive mechanism. 197. The Subcommittee considers both its visit and the present report to form part of an ongoing process of dialogue. The Subcommittee looks forward to assisting Switzerland in fulfilling its obligations under the Optional Protocol by providing further advice and technical assistance, in order to achieve the common goal of prevention of torture and ill-treatment in places of deprivation of liberty. The Subcommittee believes that the most efficient and effective way of developing the dialogue would be for it to meet with the national authorities responsible for the implementation of the Subcommittee’s recommendations within six months of receiving the reply to the present report, in accordance with article 12 (d) of the Optional Protocol. GE.21-03779 25