The Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Agyeman has confirmed that, about 50 inmates of the Kumasi Central Prisons have contracted Tuberculosis (TB).

Mrs Elizabeth made the confirmation on Kumasi based radio, Otec this Friday after visiting the facility earlier this week to acquaint herself with the condition of inmates.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It affects the lungs as well as other parts of the body.It is spread through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs cough, spit, speak or sneeze.

The Minister observed that the prison is over populated, which could be a contributory factor to the spread of the disease among inmates.

“The prison facility was initially built to be occupied by 800 inmates, but now there are over 1,850 people struggling over the small space available”. She told Otec Fm in Kumasi.

"Three people have to share one student mattress”, she disclosed.

On the issue of medical care for  prisoners, Mrs Elizabeth said she first contacted the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) only to realize the prison service owes the hospital a sum of about GHC 300,000, adding that, health insurance cards of the inmates have also expired.

She therefore pleaded with the various benevolent institutions and stakeholders to help in ameliorating the plight of the inmates.