H

ealthcare services at Kerobokan, the island’s largest prison, have resumed although not to full capacity, following the massive riot on Feb. 21. The prison authority stated, however, that a full resumption of health services would be achieved next week.

“No damage was caused to the facilities in our clinic; thus, we have resumed [some] healthcare services for the inmates,” the Kerobokan Prison health clinic head, Dr. AA Ngurah Gede Hartawan, said Tuesday.

The methadone substitution therapy for heroin addicts and antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV-positive inmates are carried out continuously as the clinic has an adequate supply of medicine, according to Hartawan. There are currently 27 inmates participating in the harm-reduction methadone therapy. Meanwhile, among the 32 known HIV-positive inmates, 11 of them are currently receiving ARV cocktails.

However, several other counseling programs for HIV patients and drug users, such as Narcotics Anonymous sessions, yoga and life-skills classes, remain halted and are expected to resume next week at the earliest.

“The [NGO] volunteers, who perform therapy and counseling sessions, are civilians. We can only grant them new permits to enter the prison compound next week,” said Hartawan. Besides the NGO volunteers, the prison has three standby doctors, who include two general practitioners and a dentist, plus several nurses.

Edy Suryawan, a member of NGO Yayasan Dua Hati, which works with drug users in Bali, acknowledged that he had not been able to perform the monthly counseling sessions with his drug patients at Kerobokan.

As of the end of last year, more than 50 percent of the inmates in Kerobokan, or around 540 inmates, had been incarcerated due to their involvement with drugs. Around 60 of them are self-injecting drug users.

Edy emphasized the urgency of improving the healthcare services in the prison. The aspects he highlighted included the need for special cells for drug-using inmates, and improved, clean-water facilities.

Meanwhile, Hartawan also acknowledged that the clinic is still waiting for the arrival of equipment for its newly built in-patients room. It is hoped that the room, with a capacity for eight patients, may help reduce health problems among Kerobokan’s inmates.

“Healthcare facilities, such as the this in-patient room, are very important as we are facing complex health issues with the inmates in this already overcrowded prison,” said Hartawan.

Built in 1979 for a capacity of only 330 people, Kerobokan Prison is now home for as many as 1,050 inmates.

Provincial Health Agency head I Nyoman Sutedja said that the equipment for Kerobokan’s new in-patient room will be provided by the Health Ministry. He stressed that the agency was ready to deploy more doctors to the clinic at the request of the prison warden.