Guwahati: HIV-infected inmates of prisons in Assam will now have anti-retroviral therapy (ART) at their doorstep with ART dispensation centres opened in six central jails.
The central jails where the ART dispensation centres were set up include Guwahati, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur and Nagaon.
Assam health and family welfare minister Keshab Mahanta inaugurated the centres from a central function organised at Central Jail, Guwahati on Monday.
“Prisons were considered as punishment homes during the British era but nowadays prisons are temples of reformation where a prison inmate gets an opportunity to get reformed. Besides health, facilities like libraries for the inmates are already there and now we are going a step further by establishing ART dispensation centres so that prison inmates can avail themselves the treatment in the jails,” the health minister said while presiding over the inaugural ceremony here.
Earlier, in her welcome speech, the inspector general, prisons, Assam, Barnali Sharma, thanked the Assam State AIDS Control Society (ASACS) for taking the initiative for providing ART medicines in jails which would be helpful for the prison inmates infected by HIV.
She underlined the need to also establish drug de-addiction centres in jails which would be immensely helpful for the drug users.
Project director, Assam State AIDS Control Society (ASACS), Pomi Baruah, in her speech said, “Assam is the fifth state in the country to have ART dispensation centres in jails. For various security reasons, it becomes difficult for an HIV-infected prison inmate to avail of treatment in ART centres located in hospitals. Now, with the establishment of ART dispensation centres in jails, a prison inmate can avail treatment inside a jail.”
She said that these centres will be linked with 9 ART centres located in medical colleges and district hospitals across Assam and very soon all medical colleges will have ART centres.
“There are Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) services for injecting drug users in Central Jail, Guwahati and very soon OST services will be made available in other jails across Assam,” she added.
Speaking on the occasion, the principal secretary to the government of Assam, Avinash Joshi, appreciated the efforts of ASACS and jail authorities and said, “Assam is the fifth state to initiate ART Dispensation Centres in central jails is an achievement by itself. I hope such centres will go a long way in helping the HIV-infected prison inmates.”
Also Read | Assam: Two arrested for alleged links to Ansarul Bangla