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Wang Huadong is proud of his prison's record. "We have not had a single case of a prisoner dying because of lack of medical care. It would be against the law for one thing," he said.

But the director of Tibet's largest prison admitted the good health of the inmates comes at a price of 200,000 yuan a year (24,000 U.S. dollars). The money is used to treat prisoners in its own clinic and another 800,000 yuan (100,000 dollars) for treating more serious illnesses in local hospitals.

The Tibet Regional Prison covers all the medical expenses of inmates whereas prison officers must pay some of the cost of their own medical care.

Wang's boast of the prison's health record is born out by the inmates.

"No one in this prison has died because they lacked medical treatment. What the Dalai clique has spread on the prison life in Tibet is untrue," said prisoner Rinzin.

"Prisoners are provided with good medical care. I myself have seen other sick inmates receive wonderful treatment," he added.

The Tibet Regional Prison has had its own clinic, dealing with common illnesses, with 13 well-trained doctors working there since it opened.

Dawa Sangbo, the clinic chief, shows off the wide range of medical equipment and pharmacy stock of 300 commonly used medicines. The clinic also has consultation and treatment rooms catering for an estimated 70-80 patients a day.

Around dinner time, a Tibetan nurse named Basang was giving an inmate an injection.

She rubbed the patient's right arm with a cotton swab, saying, "Take it easy. It will be okay soon. There isn't much pain." Then, she skillfully inserted the needle, pressing down the cotton swab and telling the patient to keep still.

"We have a round-the-clock service. All the doctors and nurses are humane to inmates coming to the clinic," Basang says.

"It doesn't matter if I miss dinner -- the patient should be treated immediately. Though they are prisoners, they are patients as well in my eyes. I must be responsible for their health," she added. (more)

Dainzin Jinme, a prisoner who suffered from lumbar tuberculosis, said, "I felt pain sometimes in my waist before I was jailed. When the prison hospital diagnosed the problem, it sent me to the General Hospital of the Regional Chinese People's Liberation Army for medical treatment and allowed my family to visit me.

"Over the past three years, the prison has spent 70,000 to 80,000 yuan on the treatment."

Bazhaxi, another inmate, said, "I suddenly felt a stomachache around 3:00 am on May 15. Dawa Norbu, the prison officer on duty then, carried me on his back to the prison clinic. A doctor in the clinic gave me some pills and the pain gradually disappeared.

"I slept well after taking the pills. But I heard afterwards Dawa Norbu stayed with me all night without rest," the inmate recalled.

"We don't hesitate to wake the prison officer when we are sick. It is common for the prison to spend thousands of yuan on treating serious diseases," he added.

An official in charge of prison management says the prisons in Lhasa and Bomi also have their own clinics. Each spends over one million yuan on treating inmates.

Wang, however, admitted medical conditions are not yet as good as in other parts of China. It is still difficult for the prison clinics to treat some serious diseases as a result of the high altitude, but he believes prisoner healthcare in Tibet is getting better all the time.

Xinhuanet