{"id":133487,"date":"2025-04-08T21:01:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T18:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133487\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"the-lancet-sounds-alarm-over-worsening-medical-care-in-belarus-prisons","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133487\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lancet sounds alarm over worsening medical care in Belarus\u2019 prisons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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April 8, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Belarusians imprisoned in politically-motivated cases experience worsening medical care behind bars since 2020, The Lancet<\/em>, a British peer-reviewed medical journal, reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation has been deteriorating since the 2020 political crisis and crackdown on the opposition, according to the non-profit Physicians for Truth and Justice, which seeks to improve conditions for people held in Belarusian prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its co-founder Vasil Zavadski, who was in charge of penitentiary medical services from 1998 to 2010, linked the development to the historical reluctance of doctors to work in prisons, ongoing crackdown on regime critics and harsher conditions for jailed activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often held for months in punishment cells, they are forced to sleep on boards or the floor with no heating and sometimes without any bedding or warm clothes, Zavadski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the former inmates told The Lancet <\/em>that prisoners, especially those serving terms in politically-motivated cases, often struggle to obtain even basic medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quality of medical care in prisons is also affected by the fact that the interior ministry is in charge of these healthcare facilities instead of the health ministry, the report noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isolates prison medicine from the broader civilian healthcare system, making oversight more difficult, limiting medical staff’s ability to maintain professional knowledge and skills, and hindering the adoption of modern medical practices,\u201d Zavadski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deaths of some jailed opposition activists could be prevented by timely and adequate medical care, the report noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least seven people imprisoned on charges widely seen as politically motivated died in Belarusian prisons in 2022-2024: Vitold A\u0161urak, Vadzim Chra\u015bko, Mika\u0142aj Klimovi\u010d, Alaksandar Kulini\u010d, Ihar Lednik, Ale\u015b Pu\u0161kin and Dmitry Shletgauer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April 8, human rights defenders identified at least 1,202 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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