Code which obliges a prisoner to reimburse treatment expenses if he/she willfully or negligently injures himself/herself177 also extends to the prisoners with mental problems who injure themselves. We believe the right approach to prisoners with mental problems who injure themselves should be therapeutic, not punitive. Prevalence of mental illnesses among the prison population is mostly caused by drug addiction and overuse of psychoactive substances in the penitentiary facilities. In 2015, 313 prisoners were involved in the methadone programme, while the same index in 2014 was 382. Decrease of the number of prisoners involved in the methadone programme in 2015 indicates that considering the scale of drug addiction in the penitentiary system, provision of the above service to the prisoners cannot sufficiently meet the existing demand. In 2014 the Public Defender recommended the Minister of Corrections to introduce replacement therapy programmes to deal with opioid addiction, however, this recommendation was not fulfilled. It is noted in the response received from the Ministry that introduction of the above treatment can start only in 2017. It is not noted why is it impossible to introduce the replacement treatment for opioid addition before 2017 or what processes are ongoing and what are the steps taken in this regards. The medical personnel should draw special attention to the issuance of the psychotropic drugs. For example, it was revealed during the visit to the Penitentiary Establishment N7 that the prisoners are supplied with the medicines by the doctor on duty which provides them with the prescribed medicines during the day. It should be noted that a nurse is not attending the process of receiving psychotropic drugs.178 Accordingly, there is no control on the use of psychotropic drugs which creates the risk of their misuse. Namely, it is possible to pass the medicines to the cellmate or to collect the medication and to receive a couple of pills at the same time, which might have a negative impact on the patient’s health. In the process of protecting mental health, of paramount importance is the protection of an individual’s interests, respect for his/her dignity and provision of care in as humane environment as possible. According to the General Comment of the UN Human Rights 177 According to Article 29(2) of the Imprisonment Code, an accused or convicted persons shall reimburse the costs of treatment in case of self-injury or injuries inflicted upon other persons deliberately or with gross negligence. They shall also reimburse any damages inflicted upon the remand facility or the place of deprivation of liberty and any additional expenses related to suppression of his/her escape from the relevant institution. 178 According to paragraph 12 of the Decree N150/N of the Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia dated 21 July 2003 on “the Rules of Purchase, Storage, Record Keeping, Preparation and Use of the Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors in the Approved Emergency and Ambulance Service” (Annex N5), “substances under special control are injected to the patients with the presence of a doctor and a nurse (or a doctor).” NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2015 115