Prisons to beef up flu response

AS the number of H1N1 flu cases continue to rise, with 54 cases now confirmed in Namibia, health services at Namibian prisons are making efforts to ensure the impact is minimised behind bars.

At a meeting of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC) yesterday, the Head of Health Services for Namibian Prisons, Angeline Kauraisa, pointed out the need for preparedness measures to be set in place in the prisons, due to the living conditions there.’It is imperative to be prepared because of the confined environment. We need to set measures in place for isolation (in the case of an outbreak), screening and assessment of inmates,’ she said.Namibia has a prison population of around 5 000 inmates, and has been criticised on several occasions for its overcrowded prison cells.Given the spread of the flu virus mainly through coughing and sneezing, the close proximity in which inmates live renders the densely populated prisons an easy site for the spread of the flu.Kauraisa has presented interim guidelines on dealing with H1N1 at the prisons to the NHEMC, and yesterday received preliminary feedback from NHEMC Chairperson Dr Jack Vries. She hopes to have the guidelines sanctioned by the Ministry of Health and Social Services before they are distributed to health personnel and prison authorities at all of the country’s 13 prisons.The plan, created from information set out by the committee and the World Health Organisation (WHO), includes guidelines on identification of the flu, recommendations for prevention, risk reduction, rapid detection of infected people, flu management and isolation, and protection of the prison workforce.Prison services worldwide have also responded to the flu in various ways. In some countries, separating prisoners into groups of sick and healthy, as opposed to the types of crimes committed, has been considered. Stocking up on large quantities of cleaning materials to reduce germs at prison facilities, qua-rantining sick inmates, placing movement restrictions on inmates that may have been exposed to the flu, and cancelling visits are other options that have been considered or implemented.The flu is generally believed to be brought into prisons by guards, visitors or new inmates.Kauraisa says in addition to training staff and screening new inmates at the reception centres, visitors to the prisons would also need to be educated on the flu and to declare their flu status.Kauraisa told The Namibian that in addition to ongoing training of health personnel, she hoped prison health personnel would receive additional training on the H1N1 flu pandemic at a workshop on disease surveillance at the end of this month.She said no outbreaks of infections had been reported at Namibian prisons in recent times.To date, 54 cases of the flu have been confirmed in Namibia, and the first (and only) flu-related death was confirmed last week Friday. A total of 40 test results are still being awaited.nangula@namibian.com.na