Health Care in Prisons and Rehabilitation Centers: Lessons Learned from Spain

2023-06-07 07:28:00

Written by Walid Abdel Salam

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 10:28 AM

I participated Ministry of Health and Populationin organizing a study tour for a delegation from the Ministries of Health and Population, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS, in the State of Spain, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (ROMENA).

The tour comes in implementation of the directives of Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, to work to improve the quality of health care provided to all segments of society, and to cooperate with various sectors and ministries concerned with providing these services in various regions.

Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, stated that the tour aims to exchange strategic and operational experiences in the field of providing health care in prisons and correctional and rehabilitation centers, which Spain is distinguished for, especially in the field of addiction treatment, mental health, and HIV prevention. .

Abdul Ghaffar added, “This study tour comes as a continuation of the fruitful cooperation between the Ministries of Health and Population, and the Ministry of Interior, and is the beginning of expanding cooperation in providing mental health services and treatment of addiction patients from prisons, and reform and rehabilitation centers.”

Abdul Ghaffar indicated that the delegation held several meetings with the Director General and Deputy Director General of Spanish prisons, to exchange experiences regarding successful practices applied in Spanish prisons and community systems, especially in reducing communicable and non-communicable diseases, adding that the program of the tour includes field visits. For a number of prisons, and a number of treatment facilities in the State of Spain.

The delegation of the Ministry of Health and Population included Dr. Menen Abdel-Maksoud, Secretary General of the General Secretariat for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment, Dr. Hazem Al-Fail, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Therapeutic Institution, Dr. Wajdi Amin, Director General of the Chest Diseases Department, Dr. Heba El-Sayed, Director of the National Program for AIDS Control, and Dr. Raghda El-Gamil Director of the Addiction Treatment Department at the General Secretariat for Mental Health.