The Dewan Rakyat was told today that the government plans to set up hospitals in prisons nationwide for the benefit of both inmates and prison staff.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the hospitals would be equipped to provide advisory services and treat infectious diseases that might hit inmates and staff.
“We plan to have our own (prison) hospitals because there will be an in-house doctor to give advice and treatment,” he said when replying to a question from Datuk Dr Marcus Makin Mojigoh (BN-Putatan).
Mojigoh had wanted to know how the government would tackle an outbreak of disease among prison inmates.
Wan Junaidi said 1,500 of the 4,500 inmates of prisons in the country suffered from Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, tuberculosis and HIV.
“Ninety-one of the total 14,373 prisons officers and staff nationwide suffered from these diseases,” he said.
