Gov�t to comply with Prisons Act in ARV provision

Gift Mwale (right) was one of the applicants
Gift Mwale (right) was one of the applicants

The Court of Appeal (CoA) yesterday ordered the government to set aside its decision to withhold free medical treatment from non-citizen prisoners with AIDS that was communicated in the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary’s savingram circulated on March 24, 2004.

The Prisons Act and Regulations through some of its Sections states that a prisoner is any person, whether convicted or not, under detention in a prison, and provides that all prisoners shall be subject to the provisions of the Act and that a medical officer shall be responsible for the health of all prisoners and shall cause all prisoners to be medically examined at such times as shall be prescribed.

The law provides that a medical officer shall examine all prisoners who complain of illness and treat all prisoners. The CoA made the order when dismissing an appeal by the government, against provision of ARVs to foreign inmates.

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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