Chapter 8 • International Legal Standards for the Protection of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty 4.3 Personal hygiene, food, health and medical services Without examining in detail the rules and case-law regarding the personal hygiene, food, health and medical services of persons deprived of their liberty, the following main principles contained in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners should be emphasized: v As to personal hygiene: “prisoners shall be required to keep their persons clean, and to this end they shall be provided with water and with such toilet articles as are necessary for health and cleanliness” (Rule 15). v As to clothing: “every prisoner who is not allowed to wear his own clothing shall be provided with an outfit of clothing suitable for the climate and adequate to keep him in good health. Such clothing shall in no manner be degrading or humiliating” (Rule 17(1)). “All clothing shall be clean and kept in proper condition” (Rule 17(2)); “whenever a prisoner is removed outside the institution for an authorized purpose, he shall be allowed to wear his own clothing or other inconspicuous clothing” (Rule 17(3)). v As to bedding: “Every prisoner shall, in accordance with local or national standards, be provided with a separate bed, and with separate and sufficient bedding which shall be clean when issued, kept in good order and changed often enough to ensure its cleanliness” (Rule 19). v As to food: “Every prisoner shall be provided by the administration at the usual hours with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength, of wholesome quality and well prepared and served”; “drinking water shall be available to every prisoner whenever he needs it” (Rule 20(1) and (2)). v As to health and medical services: there shall be “at least one qualified medical officer who should have some knowledge of psychiatry” at every place of detention and the medical services “should be organized in close relationship to the general health administration of the community or nation” (Rule 22(1)); “sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals”, and where hospital facilities exist in the institution concerned, they shall have the equipment and supplies “proper for the medical care and treatment of sick prisoners and ... a staff of suitable trained officers” (Rule 22(2)); every prisoner shall also have at his or her disposal “the services of a qualified dental officer” (Rule 22(3)). In institutions for women there shall inter alia “be special accommodation for all necessary pre-natal and post-natal care and treatment (Rule 23(1)). Next, “the medical officer shall see and examine every prisoner as soon as possible after his admission and thereafter as necessary, with a view particularly to the discovery of physical or mental illness and the taking of all necessary measures” (Rule 24); the medical officer shall also “have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed” (Rule 25(1)); the medical officer shall further “regularly inspect and advise the director” upon such 342 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers