TEHRAN — The State Prisons Organization of Iran is taking measures and carrying out plans to improve conditions inside prisons, the director of the organization said.

Those who serve long prison sentences are always worried about an imminent family breakdown, IRIB quoted Asghar Jahangir as saying on Saturday.

“We often see inmates get divorced as they come to the prison so we always try to keep the coherence within their families by giving them some days off prison,” Jahangir noted.

There are some 205 NGOs focusing on helping the inmates’ families nationwide who provide them with supports and help them avoid drifting apart from each other, the director added.

He further noted that some 800 clergies are working at the prisons who would support the prisoners mentally.

On the subject of the prisoners’ health status Jahangir pointed that the prevalence of communicable diseases was 3 to 4 percent among the prisoners in 2004 but decreased to less than one percent last year.

“The Prisons Organization always conduct monitoring and screening schemes in the prisons which is one of our most significant plans and fortunately backed by the government financially,” he said.

“Health committees of the United Nation have lauded our health measures in the prisons for three years in a row and introduced us a role model for other countries as well,” he highlighted.

He also explained that 40 percent of the prisoners are high school dropouts who would take up on studying at the prisons.

Mentioning a diary writing competition among the prisoners Jahangir said that so far some 900 pieces of writing have been collected.

“These memories could be regarded as a treasure which can provide hundreds of movies depicting the society’s reality,” he suggested.

MQ/MG