ZIMBABWE said it intends to introduce health quarantines in the country’s prisons to curb the spread of communicable diseases among inmates. Under the plan, existing prison laws will be amended to provide for compulsory medical tests for all convicts, and give the prison service legal powers to confine inmates suffering from such diseases. Prison officials said inmates suffering from tuberculosis, among other diseases, will be the main targets for quarantine. Under-funding and overcrowding has led to a rapid spread of communicable diseases such as Aids in Zimbabwe’s prisons, which hold 22000 inmates, far more than the capacity of just 16000. The officials said the prison service would also start distributing free condoms to inmates to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Two years ago, the authorities were forced to vaccinate all inmates at two prisons against meningitis after some prisoners at the facilities died of the disease.
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