Bareilly: As not a single doctor from the district hospital has visited Bareilly district jail for six months, jail officials have recently sent a request to chief medical officer (CMO) to send experts here on a fortnightly basis, according to the rules. Due to poor doctor-patient ratio, the jail will be rife with communicable diseases, said jail officials.However, after the CMO asked the chief medical superintendent (CMS) of the district hospital to send doctors to the jail, the latter refused, citing shortage of doctors. There are 2,503 inmates, including 180 women, at the district jail. There are also 18 children. The jail has two physicians to take care of various health-related problems but officials said that visits by experts are necessary.According to sources, various skin diseases such as scabies and psoriasis and seasonal illness have become common in the jail, while with fall in temperature, a few inmates are suffering from lung infection. The jail houses 200 inmates who are aged above 60 years and need medical attention for various ailments. Besides, there are hundreds of prisoners who have been lodged there for over five years. “When prisoners are first admitted to jail, a health check-up is done. However, if they develop any health issue, it is not detected and this puts at risk the lives of healthy prisoners. Besides, only gynaecologists can treat women patients,” said an official who wished not to be named.Jail superintendent Uday Pratap Mishra said, “According to the directive of director general (health), specialists should visit the jail once in a fortnight. However, we have written many times but no doctor has come here for six months. If any inmate is critically ill, we admit him or her to the district hospital.”CMS of district women’s hospital, Dr Sadhana Saxena said, “CMO asked me to send a gynaecologist every month but as we are facing shortage of doctors, I have refused it. I have told the CMO to make some other alternative arrangement.”CMO Dr Vineet Shukla said, “All the total sanctioned 19 posts of doctors at the district women’s hospital are occupied and they do not have any shortage. I have directed them to send a gynaecologist regularly to the district jail. Besides, other specialists from the district hospital will start visiting from this month. Though doctors were earlier visiting the jail, it was stopped for a few months. I will ensure that specialists check the inmates regularly from this month on.”

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