On December 10, International Human Rights Day, the Eurasian Movement for the Right to Health in Prisons announces the launch of an information campaign to draw attention to the problems of access to healthcare in prisons in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region.
According to statistics, HIV prevalence among people in prison is five times higher than in the general adult population. One in four inmates has the hepatitis C virus, and tuberculosis is ten times more common among prisoners than among people at large. At the same time, people in prisons in the EECA region face significant barriers in accessing healthcare services.
Today, regime restrictions and security requirements prevail over the needs of patients, there are difficulties in ensuring continuity of services between prison and civilian healthcare, and health services are often underfunded. In addition, the possibilities of people in prisons to protect their rights, including the right to health, is limited. The organization of healthcare services in prisons requires reform and optimization to improve access to services.
The Eurasian Movement for the Right to Health in Prisons emphasizes: health is a universal right, independent of social status or location. Restriction of freedom should not entail restriction of the right to health.
“Prisons can and should be an example of best practice in providing universal health coverage. We believe that a person’s level of health after release can be higher than before incarceration” – says Anna Koshikova, Executive Director of the Eurasian Movement for the Right to Health in Prisons.