Personnel from the Health Department visit the Cebu City Jail after reports that some inmates tested HIV positive or had tuberculosis.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
BEFORE inmates are committed inside the Cebu City Jail, they should undergo an x-ray and HIV test.
This was among the suggestions agreed upon during the visit of Councilors Mary Ann de los Santos and Dave Tumulak, personnel from the Department of Health (DOH), City Health Department (CHD) and the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to the Cebu City Jail yesterday afternoon.
Jail officials, headed by Warden Supt. Arnel Peralta, admitted that once an inmate is committed to the city jail, they would only get their records based on the medical certificate.
As to a full medical profile of the diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), they had none and wouldn’t know if the inmate was sick.
“It is already alarming (the cases of TB and HIV in the jail). We want to establish if they contracted HIV here or outside. Tracing is very important. We really need your cooperation in terms of data. That’s the reason why we conducted this ocular inspection,” De Los Santos told Peralta in a meeting in the latter’s office yesterday.
The inspection yesterday was prompted by a report that 136 out of the 4,198 inmates of the city jail have been found positive of HIV. There are also 23 inmates diagnosed with TB.
Right now, there is a weekly HIV testing being done by Cebu Plus, a nongovernment organization partnering with CHD, for city jail inmates every Wednesday. But since the testing can only be voluntary, their records may not accurately reflect the current HIV situation in the facility.
De Los Santos, who is the deputy mayor on health, agreed that it is part of an inmate’s constitutional right against self-incrimination to refuse to be tested for HIV. But she said that she will still call a meeting on Monday with other government agencies on the possibility of at least doing the voluntary testing before an inmate’s commitment in the facility and not when they are already inside.
This way, they can also immediately administer medicine to these inmates once they are inside.
Just last week, Gladys Nemeño, in charge of health in the city jail, said one male inmate died of tuberculosis inside the city jail. He was also HIV positive.
According to Engr. Miguel Gerson, development management officer of the DOH-7, the x-ray screening for inmates to be committed in the jail can be done for free in DOH-retained hospitals like the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
Gerson said they will propose the free x-ray screening for inmates at the VSMMC to DOH-7 Regional Director Jaime Bernadas. After getting approval, they will then propose this to VSMMC so that it can be implemented.
The DOH has given a P1-million budget for VSMMC this year for free x-ray screenings and other laboratory procedures.
Nemeño said they have already isolated inmates infected with TB. But upon inspection, De Los Santos found that the cells were poorly managed and have sanitation problems. This is why she asked the CHD to schedule a fumigation for these isolation cells.
Meanwhile, Peralta also said that they will soon be isolating the inmates who are HIV positive.
“This is part of our managerial action. We were directed by our regional director to separate those who are identified (to be HIV positive). We are in the process of separating them to give proper care for them,” he said.