Prisoners Deserve Healthcare, But Who Should Pay?

This episode of the weekly prompt that talks about prisoners' welfare being sponsored with taxpayers' money is one that I see as thought-provoking because it cuts across trivial discussions on our justice system, human rights, fairness, punishment, and our government's responsibility in all these. And the reason why I said it's a thought-provoking one is because we can't easily just respond with a yes or no answer. The most interesting part of the prompt is how it questions if prisoners should enjoy free healthcare because they have no source of income, while well-behaved citizens who are taxpayers should pay for their own health care. Below I'll state my take on the subject matter and related issues, so without further ado, let's get to it.

It's worth noting that I won't like to dwell much on the issue, so I'll start by saying that I understand people's concerns about inmate who are imprison because they did terrible things, serious crimes like killing, destruction of properties including health care facilities, and why such individuals who disrupt the peace of the society should be allowed to enjoy same healthcare benefits as law abiding citizens, but the truth is that we must understand that while this individuals are already facing purnishment for their offences, healthcare shouldn't be used as an additional purnishment, according to human rights, everyone should have access to quality healthcare, regardless of their moral standing in the society.

As a government institution, I believe the government should have a responsibility to provide the basic needs of those in their custody—basics such as shelter, food, and of course, healthcare—by providing healthcare facilities and simple treatment to prisoners. In my opinion, it doesn't mean they're enjoying more than people outside; it only means they're humans just like everyone else. The treatment they get doesn't excuse their crime. However, while I think they should be provided with quality healthcare facilities, I don't think such treatment should be free or beyond what other free citizens enjoy outside; instead, they should also be made to pay for their treatment.

Yes, I know many will question how they can pay for their own treatment when they don't have liberty like free citizens and the work they can do is limited, that's if they're even allowed to work at all. Well that's where the place of same treatment given to every citizens comes in, since a good citizens including tax payers have to pay for some things in relating to their welfare and when they can't afford it, their friends or relatives come through to pay for them, then the government can also reach out to such inmate relative about their relatives health status, so they can pay for them. Just the same way we do outside.

But the simple healthcare we enjoy as humans should be accord to them as well, the government shouldn't just go overboard, by spending more than enough on criminals, when it's beyond what they give to average citizens, them their loved ones should come through for them, afterall, same is the case when we look at inmate feeding in countries like ours here in Nigeria, of course the government feed the inmate freely on a daily basis, and that on it on is even more than what decent citizens enjoyed from the government.

But still many will agree with me that what they're being fed with isn't enough to sustain them, and to help out some of their family members, they usually send them food items or money to get something to sustain them alongside what they get freely from the government, so the same trend shouldn't be an issue when it comes to their healthcare accessibility.

All photos are generated using ChatGpt.