While MIA management muses long on improving normative documents, tuberculosis spreads among police officers

According to V Minyailo, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs management have been considering how to improve normative documents for years now, tuberculosis has been spreading among police officers.

He writes that one has the impression that virtually all information on the official MIA websites is aimed at  concluding that all is well and fully complies with current legislation. This is manifestly not the case and he cites the situation with measures against tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

For almost a year a draft Joint Order of the MIA, Ministry of Health and State Department for the Execution of Sentences has been waiting to be agreed. This Order would establish the procedure for cooperation between the parties’ relevant bodies on ensuring proper supervision of people with HIV and carrying out clinical laboratory monitoring over the course of the illness and carrying out retroviral therapy. The same applies to a draft Order on broadening measures for the use of replacement therapy for injecting drug users, including those with HIV. For years numerous social, economic, legal and medical problems having impact on patients with tuberculosis while in penal institutions have remained unsolved and are not addressed.

V. Minyailo writes that while all of this takes years to be agreed in ministry officers, local staff and heads of special institutions are forced to resolve the everyday issues of patients at their own discretion and using funding of dubious origin.

The staff of these special institutions, he points out, are around the clock at danger of themselves being infected, yet you can whistle for any special mention in the numerous instructions and orders regarding personal hygiene and preventive care for police officers when serving in these institutions or transporting people from there.  The number of police officers contracting tuberculosis during service is increasing by the year.

The author writes that thanks to the advocacy, communication and social mobilization of human rights organizations, including international ones, on an Instruction from 22.02.2011 No. 9149/1/1 from Prime Minister Azarov, a working group is being created to prepare measures on expanding the use of replacement therapy for injecting drug users, including those with HIV. It is to be hoped, he says, that the Minister of Internal Affairs, Anatoly Mohylyov who is one of the main implementers of the Cabinet of Ministers  Instruction will be sincere and honest in covering the rule state of affairs in order to resolve issues which are highly problematical for the MIA on the use of replacement therapy for injecting drug users, including those with HIV, clinical observation of people with HIV, clinical laboratory monitoring over the cause of the disease and the use of retroviral therapy including, or perhaps even in the first instance, in places of confinement