Unless women are very sick when they enter prison, they are rarely screened for diseases except for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The screenings vary from one center to the other. While women have a right to be told if they are HIV positive, the study undertaken by Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and AdvocAid “Woman Wahala Na Prison” report uncovered that at least one correctional center does not disclose this information. A Correctional center officer told the researchers that for inmates who have HIV, they do not tell them about their condition because it will add to their depression. They only give them the treatment and tell them they are being treated for another disease that he said is not as bad as they see HIV.
Health care services for those who are in prison is the responsibility of the State. In Sierra Leone, retroviral treatment for HIV and essential drugs to treat typhoid, malaria and other common illnesses are supplied to correctional centers every month. This “Woman Wahala Na Prison” study found that the prison authorities do not adequately provide for women’s specific health services, including gynaecological care and cervical and breast cancer screenings, in any of the correctional centers. The local NGO Breast Cancer Thinking Pink provides screenings in some centers but no cervical cancer tests are administered to women in detention. In the Freetown correctional center, a doctor is on call and visits when deemed necessary by the correctional officers. In the provinces, the prisons only employ nurses who cannot provide the same level of medical care as doctors.
However, the officers interviewed for the study told researchers that since more specialized medications must be bought from outside, and many detainees cannot afford them, officers sometimes buy these medication with their own funds. As a result, some women reported only receiving treatment when they were severely sick. Others claimed that sometimes the officers ignore women’s illnesses altogether. In some of the prisons the women were very grateful for the officers’ help. “Once I was sick and the doctor gave me a physical exam. He said I had malaria. Then after that there was no check-up, nothing. They wouldn’t have cared if I died” said a woman in prison.
Another woman in prison said “I want to thank Mrs. ***, who is an officer here. She has been very nice to us, counselling and even buying food and medicine for us out of her pocket.” When a woman cannot be treated in prison, she is referred to a government hospital where treatment is not always free. Many cannot afford the procedures that are not free of charge. Family members of formerly incarcerated women interviewed reported that their loved one’s health had worsened after their entry into prison.
“She did not have an eye problem but after her release, she now always complains about her eyes. This has affected me: I am now spending a lot of money to help her treat this eye problem” according to a Fiancée of a formerly incarcerated woman.
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque