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Assessing prison healthcare reform in Georgia

On 1 July 2016 the Council of Europe presented a mid-term assessment of the 2014-2017 Prison Healthcare Development Strategy and Action Plan. To further guide the enhancement of the penitentiary health care system, the Ministry of Corrections and Probation (MoC), in close cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, developed a Strategy and an Action Plan for the period of 2014-2017 with the support of the European Union (EU)/Council of Europe (CoE) Joint Programme “Human Rights in Prisons and Other Closed Institutions”. The priority areas of the Strategy and Action Plan were identified and developed in a series of working meetings and round-table discussions held with the involvement of all stakeholders. The documents include 16 strategic goals covering areas such as: diversification of medical services, prevention of transmissible diseases, health promotion, prevention of suicide, development of human resources and quality assurance.

In December 2015, CoE local and international experts conducted a mid-term assessment with the aim to evaluate the progress that the Georgian authorities made in achieving the strategic goals set out in the Strategy and Action Plan and completing the tasks that were foreseen. The assessment included a desk-analysis as well as meetings with representatives of the MoC, Ombudsman’s Office and civil society and on-site visit to nine penitentiary establishments. As a result main achievements were mentioned and recommendations issued for the areas where further improvement is desirable.

Ms Ana Zec, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia; Mr Stephen Stork, Deputy Head of the Operations Section of the EU Delegation to Georgia; Ms Tamar Khulordava, First Deputy Minister of Corrections and Probation; Ms Nino Berdzuli, Deputy Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs and other officials as well as representatives of Public Defender’s Office and civil society organisations attended the presentation.

The First Deputy Minister Ms Tamar Khulordava underlined the importance of the meeting and the positive achievements mentioned in the report, as a result of activities held by the Ministry of Corrections in past years. She said that the Ministry will continue to work on the areas highlighted by experts. Mr Stephen Stork, Deputy Head of the Operations Section of the EU Delegation to Georgia, thanked the Georgian authorities for a fruitful partnership. He mentioned the close cooperation with the Ministry as well as a number of problems which have been identified and for which corresponding recommendations have been provided.

This activity is part of the Council of Europe’s activities in support of improving the provision of healthcare in prisons and was organised within the framework of the CoE/EU Eastern Partnership Programmatic Cooperation Framework Project “Human Rights and Healthcare in prisons and Other Closed Institutions in Georgia II”.

Tbilisi 1 July 2016
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