TB alarm at Gaborone First offenders

BASHI LETSIDIDI
Correspondent | Thursday May 28, 2009 00:00

 

Only two weeks ago that the prisoner was taken to Marina where he is in isolation.
'Right now we could be infected because this prisoner mingled with us for a long time when it was clear that he had TB,' says a warder.

The spokesperson of the Botswana Prisons Service, senior superintendent Wamorena Ramolefhe, said that he could not disclose the medical history of prisoners because that would be in breach of ethics.

'However, we would like to put it on record that upon admission into prison, there is health screening. When we suspect TB infection, we do investigations which include sputum tests and diagnostic X-ray,' he says.Ramolefhe confirms that the issue was raised with a senior officer in a meeting earlier this year.

The Prisons' spokesman says that officers alleged 'that their lives were in danger owing to a suspected Multiple Drug Resistant (MDR) TB prisoner who was not isolated. This fear was allayed as the test proved to the contrary'.

Sources at the prison doubt the effectiveness of the tests. 'The positive results confirm what we suspected all along,' says one.

Asked why the prisoner was not isolated earlier, Ramolefhe responds: 'A prisoner is not isolated from others whilst awaiting the results. This procedure prevails in the work environment, home environment and in any other environment. Once we get a positive sputum result, the prisoner is isolated and put under TB treatment. A prisoner is then isolated after confirmation of the sputum results'.

The prisoner is now held in a sealed room at Marina where access is restricted.

Ramolefhe says that as a matter of procedure, inmates with infectious diseases such as TB and chicken pox are isolated upon diagnosis of such condition at prison health facilities with isolation units or public health facilities.

'Prison officers who are diagnosed with communicable diseases at our health facilities are referred to public health facilities for isolation,' he adds.

The issue goes way beyond the circumstances of the prisoner in question. According to Ramolefhe, when an inmate has been diagnosed with TB, investigation or screening is conducted to detect whether his or her cellmates and those who are in direct contact with the prisoner have contracted the bacteria.

'When the result reveals an infection, they are then isolated and put on treatment. We, however, encourage inmates and prison officers to go for screening when they suspect they could be having TB,' he says.

He adds that the prisoner's cellmates have been screened and that no one among them tested positive. As regards officers, Ramolefhe says that they have been encouraged to go for testing on their own.

It is believed  that the prisoner, who comes from a prominent family in the Kweneng District, refuses to wear prison uniform. He has lodged an appeal.  According to the law, appellants can choose whether or not to wear uniform. He has yet to attain appellant status because the court has not yet responded to his application.

Ramolefhe contends that the inmate has been wearing prison uniform since he was committed for imprisonment.

How prisons handle similar cases has serious implications for public health as warders and some prisoners mingle with the general population.