adminSharon Chigeza Manicaland Correspondent
Prison officers need to be equipped with comprehensive data collection skills on HIV and AIDS statistics, especially for prisons, as this could help Government in coming up with appropriate policies to address the scourge, an official has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) health monitoring and evaluation workshop in Nyanga recently, ZPCS Deputy Commissioner-General Alford Dube said the health of inmates was equally as important as the health of the nation at large.
“The inmates come from a larger community, which is the nation and are to be released back to that same community,” he said.
“It is, therefore, important that the public health service delivery system be mirrored within the prison cells to aid the national health delivery system.”
Comprehensive data collection skills by prisoners, said Deputy Comm-Gen Dube, could help the department to contribute to the national data on HIV and AIDS, which was critical in drafting help polices for both prisoners and the nation.
The workshop mainly focused on four thematic areas — prevention, particularly of mother to child transmission; treatment; care; and support of inmates infected and affected by HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
It is being supported by the Ministry of Health and Child Care, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), NAC (National AIDS Council) and other health organisations.
The workshop was attended by prison health officers, as well as the complimenting prisons officers drawn from the country’s 10 provinces.
Trained officers are expected to train junior officers in their respective provinces and disseminate information that will capacitate data collection and help manage control of diseases nationally.
ZPCS has since introduced a family week for inmates as part of support programmes offered to prisoners.
Online Reporter