Prison healthcare at the Ettore Scalas prison is experiencing a crisis that can no longer be postponed for three months with stopgap measures. Inmates' families are complaining of serious delays and deficiencies in disease management . The arrival of maximum security inmates at UTA requires an immediate reorganization of the system, without further delay.
Maria Grazia Caligaris , president of the association Socialismo diritti riforma, supports this, taking on the distress expressed by several relatives of prisoners who – they claim – are unable to see their right to healthcare guaranteed.
The exponential growth of prison population, from 750 to 840 overnight , poses—Caligaris observes—a series of problems that cannot be ignored. The Uta prison has a high rate of people (both men and women) with serious health problems. "It's not just dual-diagnosis drug addicts, who already account for 40% of the inmates. We can't forget that there are people with serious mental health issues affecting their personality (borderline, psychotic, depressed, self-harming, obsessive-compulsive, suicidal, etc.), but also with cancer, heart problems, respiratory problems, obesity, and anorexia. In short, a very complex situation in an overcrowded prison ."
The association has long been calling for a reorganization of prison healthcare, "considering that in the 14 years since it was first provided by the regional health service, no efficiency assessments or improvements have been carried out."
In Uta, however, "it's no longer possible to procrastinate on basic care, specialist care, and mental health. It's also essential to reassess the relationship with the Addiction Service (SERD), especially because addictions aren't just about substances."
(Unioneonline/AD)