THE RIGHT TO HEALTH IN PRISON:
RESULTS OF A NATIONWIDE SURVEY AND REPORT
Table 8: Waiting Time before Receiving Medical Attention
Men
Women
Total
Immediately
1-2 days
After 3 days
Others
Total
343 (6% of the
total 5479)
No response
Source: Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, 2014
3.31 With regard to seeking medical treatment at the prison clinic,65 63 per cent
(3,248) stated that they waited for less than an hour, while 20 per cent
(1041) stated that they waited for 1 to 2 hours. However, 4 per cent (206)
stated that they were not treated by the doctor despite waiting at the clinic.
89 per cent66 (4,786) have never been admitted to the sick bay because they
been well.
3.32 In this regard, the Commission takes note of the feedback received by the
Prisons Department of Malaysia:67
“The Prisons Department has a Standard Operating Procedure
on medical / health care that requires immediate attention /
action by prison officers to refer sick prisoners to prison medical
officers. The form of treatment or further referral solely depends
on the recommendation of the attending medical officer.”
Whipping (Q: 2468)
3.33 24 per cent (1313) stated that they were punished with whipping during their
imprisonment. Out of this, 66 per cent (871) received their punishment at
the time of the survey. Based on the total number of respondents who were
whipped, 50 per cent (436) reported that they received medical treatment
subsequently.
In question 22, respondents were asked about the waiting time to be attended to after being taken to the prison clinic.
Answer options were either less than 1 hour, 1-2 hours, 3-4 hours, over 5 hours, others or not been seen by the doctor.
66
In question 23, respondents were asked if they had been admitted to the sick bay during their imprisonment.
67
Feedback received on 8 April 2016.
68
In question 24, respondents were asked if their punishment consisted of whipping.
65
43