Pretoria - As nurses around the world celebrate International Nurses’ Day, Correctional Services National Commissioner Zach Modise has applauded the department’s nurses.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) currently employs 834 full-time professional nurses at its 243 correctional centres across the country.
Commissioner Modise said that adequate inmate healthcare cannot be achieved without the participation of nurses.
“International Nurses’ Day reinforces the fact that the Department of Correctional Services will not achieve adequate healthcare in our correctional facilities without the participation of nurses at all levels of the correctional system,” Commissioner Modise said.
“As DCS, we celebrate our 834 nurses and the huge difference they make daily to the lives of the 160 000 inmates countrywide.
“Nurses face various challenges in correctional facilities, yet the majority of them demonstrate the heart of nursing and focus on the very special reasons why nurses do what they do.”
The department has begun to see positive outcomes, with the TB cure rate for offenders at 85%.
Even the fight against HIV and Aids is on course as over 19 000 inmates were counselled and tested, with 98% of inmates qualifying for ART in cases of Aids, with a lower than 500 CD4 count, placed on antiretroviral therapy, said Commissioner Modise. – SAnews.gov.za
