1. Penal and correctional institutions are obligated to provide health care and medical treatment to inmates in coordination with government health establishments. 2. Government health authorities and establishments are obligated to provide medical treatment to every inmate who does not have health insurance within the territorial jurisdiction of the penal and correctional institution, in order to treat him inside the institution or transfer him to its affiliated hospitals in coordination with the Ministry. 3. Health establishments within the territorial jurisdiction closest to the penal and correctional institution are obligated to deal with cases of serious or contagious illnesses of inmates, psychological illnesses, and illnesses leading to death, referred to them by the penal and correctional institution. 4. In every penal and correctional institution there shall be one or more doctors, one of whom shall be a resident in the penal and correctional institution, who shall be entrusted with providing healthcare services to the inmates. 5. The doctor shall examine each inmate upon his admission to the penal and correctional institution, and his health and mental condition shall be verified and documented in the records or in the Database within the penal and correctional institution, and the type of work that his health enables him to perform shall be determined. 6. In penal and correctional institutions for women, doctors must be women unless it is necessary to use the help of one or more male doctors, and in the event it is necessary that one or more male doctors are present. A female nurse, officer, non-commissioned officer or private must be present when the female inmate is presented to the doctor for examination or any other medical procedure to be taken. 7. The doctor shall inspect the penal and correctional institution and the inmates to verify health aspects, especially those related to hygiene and food, and the officer of the penal and correctional institution shall implement the health measures that the doctor deems necessary to take. 8. The doctor in charge of providing healthcare to inmates in the penal and correctional institution may decide to transfer the inmate to a government hospital to receive treatment. 9. The Executive Regulation of this Decree Law shall determine all other provisions related to the implementation of this Article, including the terms and conditions for referral and transfer to receive treatment outside the penal and correctional institution, in coordination between the Ministry, the competent health authorities, and the Ministry of Health and Community Protection.
Interpretation and application must be checked against the official text and current version.