DDP Lord Nii Boye Tagoe showing the HIV/AID and TB statistics to journalists
A total of 43 confirmed cases of HIV/AIDS have been recorded in the Kumasi Central Prisons within a spate of five years.
But authorities at the facility have called for calm as they are confident that the victims were infected with the deadly disease outside the walls of the prisons.
“From 2012 to 2017, 43 HIV/AIDS cases have been recorded in the prisons and 19 cases have been discharged from the prisons now. Now, 24 of the infected people are still in prison and they are being treated so they are okay,” the Ashanti Regional Prisons Commander, DDP Lord Nii Boye Tagoe, said.
He disclosed that clearly from statistics of authorities and medical doctors, the infected people brought the disease from outside.
DDP Tagoe mentioned that voluntary HIV/AID texts are done on the prisoners every three months and from their records, the infected people came to prison with the ailment.
No TB
The prisons commander also flatly denied rumours that there is an outbreak of tuberculosis in the prisons, describing the report as a hoax.
He disclosed that out of the about 1,800 total population of the inmates, 57 TB cases had been recorded at the prisons since 2012 to 2017.
“Currently, 27 are cases discharged from prison, 30 cases are in prison out of which 11 are still taking TB drugs,” the prisons commander hinted.
DDP Tagoe stated that there is no TB outbreak at the prisons “but rather we have expressed concern about the prevalence rate of the disease”.
He warned that the congestion at the facility could pave way for TB to easily spread to other inmates, so he called for an intervention.
According to him, the inmates are “packed like sardines” at night and this deplorable situation has the tendency of making the disease spread easily.
DDP Tagoe, therefore, warned that if the congestion problem at the facility is not solved as soon as possible, there could be an outbreak of TB at the place.
He, however, added that all the affected people were being treated.
DPP Tagoe was speaking when Eugene Boakye Antwi, the Subin MP, presented food items to support in the feeding of the inmates on Friday.
The MP assured that he would contribute his quota so as to ensure that the congestion quandary at the prisons is solved.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi