KARACHI: Demand for psychiatric ward in central jail
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 4: Members of the board of visitors (BoV) established under the provisions of the Mental Health Ordinance, 2001, have recommended the establishment of a fully-fledged psychiatric ward in the Karachi Central Prison, sources told Dawn.
Moreover, the board felt there was a need to appoint a full-time psychiatrist, relevant paramedical staff, and launching of welfare initiatives for the mentally ill prisoners.
The board, headed by its chairperson, retired Justice Dr Ghaus Mohammad, on Tuesday visited the prison to examine the mentally ill patients and inspect the psychiatric care facilities within the jail.
A source privy to the visit said that the delegation felt that there existed enough room for rehabilitation of prisoners with mental health problems and the authorities concerned should move at the earliest to ensure the availability of meaningful psychiatric services within the prison.
A couple of visitors felt that the jail doctor or the doctor belonging to the psychiatry department of the Sindh Government Services Hospital, who is supposed to visit the mentally disturbed prisoners every week, were not enough to cater to their needs or operate effectively.
The board of visitors, comprising the chairperson and Prof Kazi Irshad, Dr Ghulam Nabi Memon (Director-General of the Sindh Health Department), Prof Mussarat Hussain and Dr Ishaq Sarhandi, also had a meeting with the Prisons IG, Mohammad Yamin Khan, and pointed out that there was a need for proper recording and documentation of cases and follow-up notes in a separate register.
The IG also appreciated a suggestion that some doctors enrolled under the FCPS programme should also be encouraged to undertake their dissertation work on mentally ill prisoners.
It was also noted by the board that shifting of the prisoners from the Landhi Jail to Karachi Central Prison for psychiatric treatment was not viable as the Central Prison was already overcrowded.
Role of NGOs
In the case of mentally upset prisoners, the members were of the view that efforts should first be made to get such prisoners back with their families, otherwise NGOs could play a part in working with these inmates. It was said that NGOs could work as a bridge between the prisoners and their families.
The board of visitors was told that no cases of suicide, homicide or death due to psychiatric conditions had been reported among the mentally disturbed inmates in the Karachi Central Prison. The majority of psychiatric patients were said to be undertrial prisoners.
The board members were told that there were a number of programmes running in the prison for the rehabilitation of prisoners, particularly aimed at issues of re-offending, but those were not specific to the rehabilitation of those with mental health problems and as such, a majority of those handicapped people, including foreigners, were not even in a position to plead their cases.
It was because of lack of support that the mentally ill prisoners were unable to participate in effective programmes within the prison for rehabilitation, said a psychiatrist included in the group.
In all, 24 inmates were found in the so-called psychiatric ward, while another 50-60 prisoners, for whom it was claimed that they had recovered from psychiatric illnesses, were seen seated outside the ward in question for follow-ups.
Another member said that the provision of medicines should also be reviewed and necessary treatment should be made available to the psychiatric patients in the Karachi Central Prison.
The Sindh board of visitors, comprising jurists, psychiatrists and physicians, was constituted by the Sindh government in June last year and the latest visit, the first of its kind in the history of jails in the city, was the second inspection of psychiatric facilities in the public and private sector.
DIG Prisons Tariq Shah and Superintendent of the jail Nusrat Hussain Mangan briefed the board of visitors and discussed in detail the measures adopted for rehabilitation of the prisoners in question.
About the prisoners at the available psychiatry ward it was said that they were rarely visited even by their own relatives. These inmates included an Indian fisherman, a Saudi national and a few Bengalis. Justice Ghaus also met a sick foreigner who told him that he was not being owned by his country’s embassy. The visiting group was also told that some time psychotropic drugs had to be arranged with the support of certain NGOs.
The board of visitors will submit its report to the federal Mental Health Authority, federal health ministry and the Sindh health department and other stakeholders for remedial measures, said the source.
