Superintendent calls for special care for prisoners infected with HIV/AIDS

An appeal has been made to the government to take steps towards ensuring that prisoners infected with the HIV/AIDS receive the needed care.

Superintendent of Prisons Cephas Nuwordu said more should be done to meet the nutritional requirements of the patients.

He complained that the current food ration given to them was insufficient, rendering those living with the disease weak and sickly after taking their anti-retroviral drugs.

Supt Nuwordu, who is the officer in charge of the Kumasi Central Prison Infirmary, made the appeal through the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

He indicated that people put on the life-time therapy required special diet to keep their vital organs and boost their immunity – to suppress the virus.

This, he added, was the way to assist prolong their lives.

There are currently 24 prisoners on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the facility and he said they had always been complaining of hunger.

“They have been crying for food all the time. They need to take in more fruits and eat their food whilst hot, but they are not getting this.”

Supt Nuwordu said things must change to give the patients, some of them are doing between 16 and 35 years, a chance to live longer.

He mentioned huge unpaid health bills as the other major worry as the hospitals were getting increasingly reluctant to treat sick prisoners.

There is also the added challenge of overcrowding at the prison, something that is making it difficult for tuberculosis (TB) control.

TB cases there rose from 12, in year 2015, to 31, in 2016.

Source: GNA