Vazha Kasrelishvili has been working with the Georgian prison system for almost half his life, since 2001, when he joined the NGO Tanadgoma. For a quarter of a century, Vazha has been helping those shunned by traditional Georgian society—prisoners, drug users, and people living with HIV. As part of the “Restriction of Freedom ≠ Restriction of the Right to Health” campaign, he explained what was lacking in Georgian prisons so that people could be released healthy and never return to prison.
“Tanadgoma” means “support”
Vazha Kasrelishvili is 56 years old. Today he is the Program Manager of the Rehabilitation Department in the Georgian NGO “Tanadgoma”, which deals with the prevention of HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs, drug and alcohol addiction, rehabilitation and support of prisoners, LGBTQ+ people, sex workers and representatives of other socially vulnerable groups.
When Vazha joined Tanadgoma as a social worker in the early 2000s, Georgia’s “very strict drug policy” forced drug users to hide and avoid any suspicious contacts. Medical and social workers frightened them as much as the police. Prisons were filled with convicts under drug articles for the use, storage, and transfer of even small amounts of prohibited substances.
Once behind bars, people continued to use drugs because, thanks to connections and corruption, they still had access to drugs. But what the prisoners did not have was access to sterile syringes and means of preventing HIV and hepatitis, information about these and other serious diseases, and ways to avoid contracting them. Vazha and his colleagues understood that the HIV epidemic threatens to bring problems and deaths not only to the prison system, but to Georgian society as a whole, because HIV cannot be contained within prison walls.
“We agreed with the Ministry of Justice and started a pilot project in two colonies. It was purely informational, without any funding: we went to prisons, met with prisoners and just talked about HIV, other diseases, how to reduce the harm of drug use,” Vazha recalls of the first “prison” projects.
But it would be ineffective to engage in HIV prevention among prisoners with the help of conversations alone. In 2008, HIV testing rooms were opened in prisons. And since 2011, Tanadgoma has been involved in pre-release rehabilitation programs for prisoners, focusing on the risks of drug use, overdose prevention, and HIV protection.
“We are now working to expand access to methadone substitution therapy in the future as part of a detoxification program for prisoners,” Vazha shares his plans.
“No one knows what drugs they are buying”
“When I started working, the main drugs were opiates, heroin. And injecting drug users had HIV in 60% of cases. Now the use of injecting opiates has decreased, but new psychoactive substances have become a problem: cathinones, stimulants, alpha-PVP… “Vazha lists”. The black market has become even more dangerous because no one knows what drugs they are buying or what they might be in for. “
The work of Vazha and the Tanadgoma team, both inside and outside prison, is all the more important for Georgian society – someone in the country should figure out how to help the new generation of drug users not to end their days prematurely and in prison.
Today, Tanadgoma covers in this or another way all of Georgia’s correctional facilities with its services. There are Tanadgoma offices and counseling centers in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi and Telavi. Assistance to drug addicts – there are many of them among the prisoners – is provided in two drug treatment centers of the organization. And the psychosocial center for drug addicts in the Kakhetian mountain village of Gremi often becomes the first shelter for yesterday’s prisoners who have nowhere to go after their release, or for those who have fallen into drug use after a few weeks of freedom.
Georgian society has made great strides in the fight for prisoners’ right to health. Today, HIV and STI prevention services, testing for HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs and TB diagnostics are available in Georgia’s prisons. The penitentiary system provides art, treatment for tuberculosis and hepatitis C, methadone substitution therapy (in the form of detoxification assistance), psychiatrists and specialized specialists upon request – and funding for this system from the state.
The next step could be to introduce a full-fledged PTA and harm reduction program in Georgia’s prisons, expanding the team of counselors who could engage inmates in treatment and motivate them to change their lifestyles, but so far the country lacks the political will to do so at the state level. Instead of support, Tanadgoma and other NGOs risk being labeled “foreign agents” by the state under Georgia’s 2024 Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence. Civil society has responded with protests that have lasted 74 days in Tbilisi.
“The current government is once again following the path of Russia by introducing undemocratic laws,” Vazha explains these processes. “But Georgian society is protesting against the new law because we want to live in a democratic European country.”
Helping people who are in prison and using drugs, however, tempers the character, Vazha admits.
“Resocialization after imprisonment, rehabilitation and recovery from addiction is very difficult, but very interesting,” Vazha explains his reasons for doing this work. – In countries like ours, out of a hundred beneficiaries, God willing, ten recover. But when you meet a person on the street who has gone through our programs and is now free, it is very motivating. So the more difficult the task, the more interesting it is. ”
The information campaign “Limitation of Freedom ≠ Limitation of the Right to Health” emphasizes that people in prisons should have the same access to health services as people in the community. Organized by the Eurasian Movement for the Right to Health in Prisons, the campaign emphasizes that restricting freedom should not mean restricting the right to health. Health is a universal right that belongs to everyone, regardless of social status or place of residence.
Media support: Virus off