Here are two pieces on the construction of health clinics in prisons and on activities in prison clinics. HIV prevention and care for prisoners was recommended to the 3MDG Fund almost six years ago.
https://www.3mdg.org/sites/3mdg.org/files/publication_docs/3mdg-gap-analysis-for-hiv-57-1.pdf
I provide medical care in jail clinics. I know that what goes on in the clinics is much more important than the physical structure. There is an opportunity cost here. 3MDG Fund money is better spent on activities than buildings as human resources are much more important than physical ones.
One article states that half of Myanmar's prisoners are serving time for drug-related offences. What treatment for substance use disorder is being funded for prisoners?
Finally, working in labour camps raises ethical issues for the Fund, international NGOs, and civil society organisations working there.
Jamie
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3MDG funds construction of health clinics at 4 prisons
Myint Kay Thi
Myanmar Times
3 May 2018
The Three Millennium Development Goal Fund (3MDG) will finance construction of clinics in four prisons to improve delivery of healthcare services for inmates.
A 3MDG statement said it will construct health infrastructure facilities in Insein Prison in Yangon, Myitkyina Prison in Kachin State, Lashio Prison in Shan State and Mandalay Prison in Mandalay.
The clinic in Lashio Prison is expected to be completed in June while the clinic in Myitkyina will start construction at the end of the month, the statement added.
Construction is now in progress on the two other clinics in Kachin and Mandalay, and the facilities would immediately be turned over to the government once completed, 3MDG said.
A laboratory in Insein Prison will also be renovated to improve its facilities.
The facilities will include space for treatment of patients as well as space for administrative services, as well as separate areas for male and female patients.
3MDG is also funding projects to improve delivery of healthcare services in Bhamo Prison in Kachin State and Kalay Prison in Saging Region through the non-governmental organisation Asian Harm Reduction Network.
The 3MDG noted the urgent need to improve the healthcare facilities in the prisons in the country, as currently prisoners have very limited access to health services.
It said that as many of the prisons are overcrowded, inmates can easily get infected with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera.
3MDG is also developing standard operating procedures in prisons and labour camps in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Sports, the Prison Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, the WHO and other partner non-governmental organisations.
https://www.mmtimes.com/news/3mdg-funds-construction-health-clinics-4-prisons.html
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Better health care behind bars with new prison clinics
3MDG Fund
24 April 2018
Myanmar’s prisoners are among the country’s most vulnerable and marginalized people. The needs are immense, but prisoners often find themselves last in line for quality health care. 3MDG is helping prisoners get better access to medical services by constructing four on-site prison clinics.
Universal health coverage means that all people – including vulnerable and marginalized groups – are able to access the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship. In order for Myanmar to reach the milestone of universal health coverage, health care in the country’s 45 prisons and numerous labour camps must be addressed.
Prisoners currently have limited access to prevention and medical treatment. Prisons themselves are overcrowded, mostly because of legislation that criminalises and imposes long minimum sentences for sex work and drug use. Nearly half of Myanmar’s 65-70,000 prisoners are serving sentences for drug-related offences. The crowded living conditions can turn prisons and labour camps into hotspots for communicable diseases and infections such as tuberculosis, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera. Cramped living conditions can also worsen mental health.
The country’s correctional system currently has limited human resources and little of the infrastructure it needs to address the immense health care needs unfolding in Myanmar’s prisons. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sports (National AIDS Program and National TB Program) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (Prison Department), 3MDG is collaborating with UNODC, UNAIDS, WHO, and NGOs, to improve the delivery of health care services in prisons and labour camps.
One of the interventions is to construct and renovate health infrastructure behind prison walls in four prisons: Insein prison in Yangon, Myitkyina Prison in Kachin State, Lashio Prison in Shan State and Mandalay Prison in Mandalay. In all four, 3MDG will finance the construction of health clinics, and the laboratory in Insein Prison will be extended and renovated. This infrastructure will improve prisoners’ and prison staff’s access to health care. 3MDG expects the first clinic, in Lashio Prison, to be completed in June 2018.
These clinics are being constructed with separate facilities for male and female inmates, and space for an administrative unit. Prisoners will have a better chance to realize their right to health, which is identified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Non-discrimination in accessing health care is also noted in Myanmar’s Constitution.
The national response to tuberculosis (TB) in prisons is coordinated out of Insein and Mandalay Prisons under the direction of the National TB Programme. Infrastructure improvements are also in support of this priority. Lashio Prison is currently dealing with a high number of tuberculosis cases, with around 20 prisoners being treated for the disease through local and international NGOs. One prisoner in Lashio has already been transferred to Yangon’s Insein prison after being diagnosed with multi drug-resistant TB. Once the clinics are completed, Lashio Prison will be better equipped to detect and treat diseases such as tuberculosis.
3MDG is also financing the Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) to provide health services in two prisons in Bhamo, Kachin State and in Kalay, Sagaing Region, housing more than 3,500 inmates (and 200 in two labour camps). This is a pilot programme to test the potential for non-government organizations to temporarily fill the gap in health service provision while the government builds its capabilities and reach. In just six months, AHRN has been able to vaccinate nearly 1,300 inmates and staff for Hepatitis B, provide HIV testing, care and counselling, screen for TB and provide TB treatment and provide basic health care, including specific health issues for women – pregnancy care, menstruation, and family planning. Before entering the prison, staff were provided with sensitivity and security training.
In collaboration with UNAIDS and WHO, 3MDG is also funding UNODC to develop Standard Operating Procedures to strengthen prison and labour camp health facilities and services. The Ministry of Health and Sports is leading this process in consultation with the Prison Department. Implementation of the standard operating procedures is expected to begin later this year.
https://www.3mdg.org/en/newsroom/item/976-better-health-care-behind-bars-with-new-prison-clinics
