A fully-equipped three-room isolation facility has been opened at Kisumu's Kodiaga Maximum Prison for multidrug-resistant TB inmates.
The facility, the second in the country after a similar one at Shimo la Tewa Prison, will serve Kodiaga inmates as well as those from the rest of western Kenya prisons.
Senior assistant Commissioner General of Prisons Joseph Ngaira Mutevesi said isolation centre will go a long way in containing the spread of drug resistant strain of TB.
Mutevesi said tuberculosis is one of the diseases that easily spreads and thrives in high-density places like prisons.
He thanked Healthstat and the Prisons health department for offering TB treatment in the country's 129 prisons.
He said there was a need for concerted efforts to protect vulnerable populations such as prisoners and curb the spread of the emerging multi-drug resistant TB and other infections like Covid-19.
On average, 1,500 inmates are treated for TB annually, the Prisons boss said.
Mutevesi noted that there were at least 10,000 patients across the country on HIV treatment and lifelong antiretroviral drugs.
Healthstat official Fred Babu said the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB has been elusive because of the changing trends, and prisons remain high risk centres.
“This is why early detection through screening at the facilities using cough monitors is key to ensure the infected inmates are detected early and isolated,” Babu said.
George Diang'a, who is in charge of Kisumu Maximum Prison, said the first thing they do to new inmates is to screen them for TB.
Screening is a continuous exercise, he said, noting that while they currently don't have any TB cases, the isolation facility is a blessing as the disease would be difficult to manage without it.
- mwaniki fm
