Judgement is expected in the Durban High Court on Thursday in an urgent application by 15 Westville Prison inmates to expedite their access to anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment.
During the appeal — brought by the Durban Legal Resources on behalf of the 15 HIV-positive prisoners — Judge Thumba Pillay heard that according to the prison’s operational plan prisoners had to undergo four sessions of counselling before receiving ARV treatment.
However, advocate Andrea Gabriel, representing the prisoners and the Treatment Action Campaign, said prison authorities were failing to meet that plan as the Westville Prison’s appointment schedules allowed only one prisoner a day to receive counselling.
She pointed out there are seven other accredited hospitals in the vicinity of the prison.
She also told the court that experts said an HIV-positive person has to have a CD4 count of below 200 before they received the ARV treatment. The CD4 counts are an indicator of the patient’s declining immune system.
In the case of her clients their CD4 count ranged below 150 and in some cases as low as three and four.
The state argued that 14 of the men had unrestricted access to ARV treatment.
Advocate Marumo Moerane said prisoners were assessed when receiving treatment to suit their individual needs. He said it was ”wrong and improper” for a court to order ARV treatment and should best be left in the hands of doctors.
According to the Aids Law Project 78 people have died of HIV/Aids related diseases in the Westville Prison since the start of 2005. – Sapa