Tatsiana Seviarynets asks procuracy to inspect tuberculosis hospital

Tatsiana Seviarynets, a coordinator of the steering committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party (BCD), applied to the Vitsebsk Regional Procuracy with the request to hold a check-up at the Vitsebsk regional tuberculosis hospital in the settlement of Bahusheusk. According to her information, rights of patients are violated there. In particular, they are threatened with repressions for any complaints about the conditions and medical treatment.

“I applied to the procuracy, as ordinary people cannot get to this institution and see what is going on there. It is a closed institution and many patients spend a considerable part of their lives there, being chronically ill with tuberculosis. I asked officers of the procuracy to inspect the legality of keeping of our adherent Valery Hancharenka in custody in the psychiatric department. He suffers from an open form of tuberculosis. However, as soon as he told journalists about the hospital regime, he was declared psychically ill and isolated,” said Mrs. Seviarynets.

The woman also maintains contacts with other patients. According to them, the hospital experiences materials problems and lack of medicines. However, it is impossible to check these facts as the chief doctor, Natallia Liasnaya, doesn’t want to maintain any contacts.

“It was very difficult to make her agree to collection of finances and things by our forces in Vitsebsk and passing it all to the hospital. She doesn’t want to speak to me, because she thinks that we besmeared the hospital on Hancharenka’s initiative. But if everything is so well there, why take away the mobile phones, paper and pens from the patients?” argues Tatsiana Seviarynets.

She also says that the chief doctor repeatedly threatened to apply to the procuracy with the request to find the authors of the “libel”. “Let the procuracy check how the ill are treated and fed there, and whether there are reasons for any libel,” says the activist.