Human Rights Activist: People Are Simply Dying from Illnesses in Ukrainian Pre-Trial Detention Centres

In Ukrainian pre-trial detention centres and correctional colonies, there is a lack of necessary medical care.

This was announced at a press conference at UNIAN by Aigul Mukanova, coordinator of the project “Protecting Human Rights in the Field of Healthcare”.

Summing up the work of the Human Rights Protection Foundation in the field of healthcare at the Institute of Legal Studies and Strategies for 2010, A. Mukanova emphasised that one of the main problems raised by applicants to the foundation last year was the lack of proper medical care in the institutions of the Department for the Execution of Punishments.

“This problem reached terrifying proportions in 2010. For instance, in one such case, a 70-year-old person who is in custody and has a huge range of illnesses (about 17 medical diagnoses) is not being provided with the necessary assistance. And the situation simply cannot get off the ground. The problem is also that there are many cases where people are thrown into custody when they do not pose a threat to society,” noted A. Mukanova.

According to the human rights activist, there was a very large flow of cases in 2010 related to the medical problems of HIV-infected people. “Usually, these are people with the fourth terminal clinical stage of HIV who are not provided with proper medical care and are not even examined. They have a multitude of co-occurring diseases – tuberculosis, hepatitis, and other serious illnesses. They are forced to simply die behind the walls of correctional facilities and in pre-trial detention centres,” said A. Mukanova.

She stressed that regarding all HIV-infected prisoners, there is a general problem: the lack of conditions and equipment for examinations, as well as medication for antiretroviral therapy, without which any treatment is ineffective.

“The next category of cases is related to detention in psychiatric hospitals, where psychiatric care is provided forcibly. Often, rational, competent people refuse such help, but staff at such hospitals force examinations and treatment without the patient’s consent. There was a case where a patient’s signature on a document was forged,” A. Mukanova pointed out.

Also, according to the human rights activist, the foundation continues to receive many applications regarding medical errors, doctor negligence, refusal to provide medical information, or the disclosure of medical confidentiality.

A. Mukanova is confident that the situation can be changed not only by the work of human rights organisations to change state policy in the healthcare system but also by the victims themselves appealing to law enforcement agencies and courts.