UNODC ZAMBIA HELPING TO IMPROVE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY HEALTH

SENSITIZATION OF 45 ZAMBIA CORRECTIONAL SERVICE STAFF ON HIV/TB AND COVID 19 INTERFACE 14-16th SEPTEMBER 2020

UNODC is working closely with Zambian Correctional Services to protect the health of correctional populations, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, by training correctional staff to correctly identify and isolate suspect individuals and ensuring that these are sent to public health facilities for testing and appropriate treatment and care is given to COVID-19 as well as HIV and TB. This training therefore was aimed to guide correctional staff on the epidemiology of the three conditions in the general public and in correctional facilities- where available. They were also trained on what symptoms to look out for, what steps they need to take to get the inmates to health facilities, how they can support inmates needing to take long term medication as is the case for TB and HIV. This information and knowledge were equally important for their own purposes in seeking medical attention and minding their well-being. This training is complimentary to goods received for PPE, screening and IEC purposes.

Many correctional facilities in Zambia are overcrowded, with poor sanitation and poor ventilation. Under these conditions, diseases like Covid-19 can spread very quickly. This poses an immediate threat for inmates already with LHIV, infected with TB or managing chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. This has been the force behind UNODC support in terms of capacity building in technical aspects for the effective programming and implementing of interventions that are for the prevention, treatment and care. Particularly for COVID-19, UNODC is further supporting the establishment and equipping of isolation facilities for new inmates and those with positive COVID-19 tests but not needing hospitalization.

After the first Covid-19 was diagnosed in Zambia in March 2020, it became extremely important that correctional services prepared to prevent infections from entering their facilities where the luxury to practice the prescribed ‘5 Golden Rules’ for prevention would be extremely difficult if not impossible. By the end of July, only 25 correctional staff from a total of 120 from all regions of the country had been trained in proper handling of suspected and confirmed cases within correctional facilities. UNODC supported this initial training and is further supporting to fill in the training gaps by training an additional 45 staff from six different provinces.

Opening ceremony was officiated by ZCS Assistant Commissioner-Director Administration Mr. Tony Khunga, NAC DG- Dr Connie Osborne and UNODC HIV Prevention Officer-Dr Mujinga Ngonga. ZCS Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Tony Khunga thanked the partners who sponsored the training and MOH for giving the support to the partners to enable them to undertake the activity.

“We appreciated the efforts and extent the partners have undergone to ensure the welfare of inmates and officers are improved. I am also confident that officers will disseminate the knowledge from the training to their various stations and communities,” he said.

“We are happy as ZCS for this training, as ourselves at HQ and others in the provinces have a greater understanding of the importance of sound correctional health not just for themselves but also for inmates. We are extremely happy also that staff are now better equipped with necessary information to ensure that there is adequate access to prevention, treatment and care in the facilities they work” said Elizabeth Muchindu, HIV Focal Person for the Zambian Correctional Services.

 During the three days of the training it was very evident that there were knowledge gaps and general lack of needed material for the fight against these three conditions. UNODC in this training emphasized the need to ensure that staff are systematically trained and refreshed in material related to the prevention, treatment and care of the three conditions within correctional facilities. ZCS indicated that the first steps will include: (i) ensuring that all facilities have adequate supplies of PPE, screening and  IEC material; (ii) establishing a workplace HIV policy for its staff; (iii)  and will also look into updating material used for training of staff before deployment.  UNODC further encouraged staff to take engage with material who had the chance to complete the e-learning course on Nelson Mandela Rules (NMR) received tokens of congratulations and were given the moment to promote the course and share their experiences.

“We are happy as ZCS for this training as ourselves at HQ and others in the provinces have a greater understanding of the importance of sound correctional health not just for themselves but also for inmates. We are extremely happy also that staff are now better equipped with necessary information to ensure that there is adequate access to prevention treatment and care in the facilities they work” -Ms. Elizabeth Muchindu HIV Focal Person ZCS.

The training was made possible through the generous Country Envelope Funding from UNAIDS under the Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF). Through this support it has been possible to focus HIV prevention treatment and care interventions