Deputy Minister of Health inspects HIV prevention work at Prison No. 6

On the afternoon of December 8, an inter-sectoral working group led by Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong inspected HIV/AIDS prevention and drug and prostitution prevention at Prison No. 6 - Ministry of Public Security. The delegation was also accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

The working group inspected the facilities. Photo: Dinh Ha

Here, the delegation inspected the physical facilities serving the examination and treatment work, and also visited a number of prisoners to grasp the situation. According to the report of Prison No. 6, there are more than 600 officers and soldiers here on duty to detain and reform nearly 4,000 prisoners. Among them, 145 prisoners are infected with HIV/AIDS, many prisoners have diseases related to drugs and prostitution.

"Implementing the policies and regimes of the state, the attention of the leaders of the Ministry of Public Security and medical facilities, in recent times the unit has focused on doing a good job of examining and treating people infected with HIV and diseases related to drugs and prostitution. However, due to the specific nature of the prison and the limited physical facilities and human resources, the management and treatment work still faces many difficulties," said the leader of Prison No. 6.

Working delegation at Prison No. 6. Photo: Dinh Ha

After listening to the opinions of camp leaders and representatives of ministries and branches, Deputy Minister Nguyen ThiLien Huong highly appreciated the medical examination and treatment activities of the Camp.Prison No. 6 acknowledged the difficulties the unit is facing. The Deputy Minister said that the Ministry's leaders are very concerned about medical examination and treatment in general and with social diseases in prisons in particular.

The Deputy Minister suggested that the Department of Health should advise and propose to the Ministry of Health to provide facilities such as working houses, machinery and equipment, necessary medicines, biological products, chemicals and training on technology transfer so that prisons can better examine and treat HIV/AIDS and diseases related to drugs and prostitution. Along with that, propaganda is needed to raise awareness among officers, soldiers and prisoners about the importance of managing and treating diseases related to HIV/AIDS, drugs, prostitution, Covid-19 epidemic, etc.