The growing number of convicts suffering from tuberculosis poses a danger of epidemics in Russian prisons and demands compulsory medical treatment, the head of the medical department of the federal prison service said on Wednesday.
Alla Kuznetsova told a news conference that the number of convicts who suffer from tuberculosis and HIV was on the rise. She said there were 5,000 inmates suffering from the two illnesses in the Russian jails in 2009, twice as much as in 2004.
"These people first learn about their illness after being detained," Kuznetsova said. She added that 6, 000 - 7, 000 people with tuberculosis are being delivered to pre-trial detention centers every year.
Kuznetsova said Russia lacked legal rules to regulate medical treatment in prisons. "We have taken inmates to court over tuberculosis, but even jail can't force them to undergo treatment," she complained.
One of the main problems is overcrowding. Healthy and ill convicts are often kept together which worsens the medical situation. Detention facilities in Russia are mostly outdated and do not meet European standards.
Treating convicts with tuberculosis is expensive for the government. Kuznetsova said the only solution to the problem is to create new medical bases in Russian detention facilities.
MOSCOW, March 24 (RIA Novosti)
