Panel Of Doctors For Prison Inmates

KAJANG, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- A special panel of doctors would be appointed to attend to prison inmates, said Deputy Minister of Internal Security, Datuk Fu Ah Kiow.
He said the move was the first such initiative to replace the present arrangement where sick convicts had to be taken to hospital for treatment.
"The prison must have special doctors because the department is deeply concerned about the problem of contagious diseases, and convicts who have health problems must be treated immediately," he told reporters here Monday.
In the initial stage, he said, the Finance Ministry had approved an allocation of RM3 million last week for the appointment of the first group of panel doctors to serve 10 prisons throughout the country.
"The number of doctors to be deployed at each prison depends of the number of prisoners being held at the prison concerned," he added.
Fu said Kajang Prison was among the first to enjoy such benefit with three doctors currently serving the convicts there.
He said the appointment of the panel doctors was made because the Prisons Department's request to the Health Ministry to assign special doctors to the prisons could not be met due to the shortage of doctors.
Meanwhile, commenting on the case where 16 warders at the Simpang Renggam Prison were reported by a local press last Friday to have smuggled in prohibited items including ganja and heroin, he said five of them had been identified and one had been detained.
"All of them would be investigated under the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985," he said.
Fu also said that a special team known as the "Rapid Action Troop" had also been formed to carry out more thorough checks on convicts and prison staff to prevent smuggling of prohibited items.