THE RIGHT TO HEALTH IN PRISON: RESULTS OF A NATIONWIDE SURVEY AND REPORT Methodology 1.24 A random survey of prisoners equating to an overall 10%10 of the prison population (i.e. prisoners, prison and healthcare staff) was conducted in 18 correctional institutions nationwide. 1.25 The Commission conducted both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative studies on prisoners’ health and health care in prison. The questions included demographic data, information about the health status of the prison population, access to health care in prison and knowledge about the right to health in prison. 1.26 During the survey, all respondents were requested to self-complete a semistructured questionnaire. The Commission also conducted face-to-face interviews with sentenced prisoners during this time. 1.27 The final sample consisted of 5879 prisoners, 886 prison staff and 52 medical staff. 1.28 Based on the survey, the Commission’s report describes the various aspects of health in prison using a range of indicators from the survey and where possible, presents results by gender and type of prisoner. All findings are presented as a percentage. Limitations 1.29 Visits to the 18 prisons across the country were also aimed at collecting information that would highlight areas of concern through general observations on the conditions in prison. Although the Commission is unable to authenticate or verify the responses by the respondents; the anonymous, private and confidential nature of the survey has maximized their ingenuousness. 1.30 Security was cited as the main reasons to exclude prisoners on death row from the survey. Nevertheless, the Commission was allowed in some places to speak to prisoners on death row. 10 As at 26 August 2014, the total number of prisoners in all 47 institutions under the Prison Department was 42,579 8