ZAMBIA Case Study

It was established that both prisons had COVID-19 task committees in place and SANOP was content observing evidence of efforts aimed at preventing COVID-19 in the prisons and the efforts being in the facilities to manage any risks.

Bzyanzi prisons did not have an isolation centre and relied on Maula prison, more than 40 kilometres away. It did not have COVID-19 testing capacity and only had one thermo.

“As an open prison, inmates interact with the community, and all staff housed outside the prison environment freely mingle with community members. It is safe to argue that the threat of outside infection is real. There is a standing order that even if a prisoner is diagnosed with COVID-19, they must remain in prison, predisposing prisoner staff and inmates to COVID-19 infection. A peer educators’ committee of inmates needs to be set up and trained on COVID-19.”

Kachere prison recorded temperature for all people entering the premises, and of masks were a condition for all prison staff to enter the premises. There were sanitation facilities on all entry points, and all prisoners were supplied with bathing abilities.

“What was more inspiring is that the prison has a standing COVID-19 Task force. However, they are challenged by inadequate face masks for both prison staff and inmates; lack for PPEs for use at the isolation centre; inadequate thermos; inadequate washing basins and soap. Although they have a committee of inmates’ peer educators, they require COVID-19 training.”

Contingency planning was evident at Kachere prison, but not at Bzyanzi where there was notable evidence of some contingency plans being communicated with staff and prisoners, though this was inadequate and ineffective. There was no evidence of a national comprehensive risk assessment of the prison system being conducted, neither was there an assessment of the need for PPEs and other essential supplies carried out. Finally, there was no evidence of the availability of any PPE for use by prisons during the pandemic.

t was established that there was some measure of coordination between teams involved in risk communication, with key messages clearly communicated in the prison setting, however better communication of COVID-19 messages to inmates was lacking.

“We found no evidence of a communication strategy to deal with public and risk communication about disease outbreaks in prison; and no mechanism to gather and integrate the risk perception of people in prison, staff, and visitors in strategy/message development. There are some efforts to communicate messages in a clear, accurate and relevant manner to people in prison, staff, and visitors about preventive measures, especially hand hygiene practices and respiratory etiquette, but there is need for formal training of prison staff in this regard.”

Both prisons did not have a checklist to evaluate preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 and would need support to develop one.

It was established that prison staff, both at Bzyanzi and Kachere prisons had not received any training on basic COVID-19 disease, knowledge, including pathogen, transmission route, signs, and clinical disease progression. Prison staff had not received any training on hand hygiene practice and respiratory etiquette, appropriate use of PPE, environmental prevention measures, including cleaning and disinfection. On a positive note, action been taken to disseminate information broadly among people in prison, visitors, and staff family members.

Even though there were protocols in place to manage staff who met the definition of a suspected or confirmed case, staff lacked the necessary competencies to execute them. Routines and facilities that allow hands to be washed with soap and water and dried using single-use towels (or cleaned with alcohol sanitizer, with at least 60% alcohol) existed, but there were persistent stock-outs of supplies.

While it was clear that physical distancing routines were strictly enforced, there was evidence of inadequate supply of medical masks to prison officers and supply for confirmed cases or suspected cases with symptoms.