International experts recommend initiating the transfer of healthcare from the National Penitentiary Administration to the Ministry of Health. The recommendations were made during a round table on the organization of health care in Moldovan penitentiary institutions, IPN reports.

According to a press release of the Justice Ministry, healthcare services in prisons in Norway, France, Great Britain, Finland and the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country are subordinated to the Health Ministry.

"After evaluating the medical services in Moldovan prisons according to the standards of the Council of Europe, the recommendations of the CPT and the ECtHR judgments against Moldova, the international experts recommend initiating the transfer of medical care from the National Penitentiary Administration to the Ministry of Health and presenting an action plan for this purpose", the Ministry of Justice emphasizes.

The experts carried out a fact-finding mission to Moldova at the beginning of October to gather information on the organization of health care, its priorities and constraints.

Last month, the Ministry of Justice put out for public consultation a draft law providing that seriously ill prisoners could be released from detention if their condition is confirmed by the medical board of the prison hospital. A draft law will simplify and speed up the procedure for determining serious illnesses by reducing the number of assessment boards from three to one.