The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday began a mammoth exercise to distribute sanitary hygiene kits to Ivorian prisons in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the population of inmates estimated at 20,000.
According to a statement from the organisation to APA, the installation and use of the equipment is “vital” to preventing Covid-19 from reaching the country’s prison population hitherto spared by the pandemic”, according to health officials.
“We have contributed to the establishment, with the authorities, of a prevention and response plan. Our material and logistical support is part of this plan, as is the maintenance of the essential rights of detainees, including their contact with their families and the outside world,” said Steve Ako Tanga, ICRC’s protection coordinator in Abidjan.
Hygiene and sanitary equipment will be delivered and installed in the prisons within a few days, thanks to the mobilization of 11 trucks based at the ICRC’s Regional Logistics Centre in Abidjan, the organisation said, adding that its operation is starting at the House of Arrest and Correction in Abidjan (MACA), to date West Africa’s largest prison.
The various sanitary equipment and items that will be distributed to 33 prisons across Cote d’Ivoire include 220 hand-washing devices, 126,000 bars of soap, 19,000 litres of bleach, 39 sprayers and equipment for prison infirmaries (medical aprons, gloves, masks, etc.).
Last week President Alassane ordered the release of 2004 prisoners to combat the spread of Covid-19 in Ivorian prisons.
To date, the country has recorded 638 confirmed cases of the disease with 114 recoveries and six deaths.
LB/ls/lb/as/APA