Around 80 inmates, including 50 political prisoners, need emergency transfer to outside hospital in Kale prison amid rampant corruption

In Kale Prison, Sagaing Region, it has been revealed that around 80 inmates, including 50 political prisoners, require emergency treatment at outside hospitals due to a lack of adequate healthcare, discrimination, and corruption by prison authorities. Doctors from Kale People's Hospital confirmed in July during an inspection inside the prison that 80 inmates needed to be transferred to outside hospitals as an emergency. However, according to the Prisoners of Conscience Network of Myanmar (PPNM), only nine inmates have been granted permission to be transferred to outside hospitals so far, and only four of them are political prisoners. It is also understood that inmates have to pay bribes ranging from 1 million to 1.5 million Kyats (approximately $475 to $715) to prison officials, including the superintendent, deputy superintendent, prison hospital chief, and wardens, to get permission to receive treatment at outside hospitals due to the lack of healthcare within the prison. "Those who can afford it collude with directors and prison superintendents and are sent to outside hospitals even if they are not actually sick and do not need treatment. Some have been staying in the prison hospital by paying money every month," a PPNM official told the Irrawaddy Times. It is also understood that while political prisoners have to wait for one to two years to receive medical treatment, some drug traffickers and criminal inmates who can afford it are allowed to stay in outside hospitals without being sick. Kale Prison has a budget of only 1 million Kyats per month for medical expenses for 1,000 inmates (at a rate of 1,000 Kyats per person), so only basic medicines like paracetamol and sevid are available, and there is a shortage of emergency oxygen and medical supplies. There have also been incidents where an inmate suffering from a heart attack died from lack of oxygen en route when being transported to Kale People's Hospital, which is over 12 miles away, as the ambulance was not equipped with a respirator. PPNM has issued a statement saying that they will hold the military, the Prisons Department, and prison authorities accountable for their abuses of power, such as disregarding the lives of political prisoners, denying them medical treatment, and accepting bribes. Photo: Social media.