Egypt’s interior ministry has sent medical missions to west Alexandria’s Borg Al-Arab Prison and Beheira’s Wadi Al-Natroun Prison as part of a campaign launched by the ministry mid-December to examine prisoners, the MENA state news agency reported.  

Doctors of different specialities have given 4,952 treatments to different prisoners.

Another medical mission will head to 15th May Central Prison in Cairo to examine 1,358 prisoners in the facility.

These efforts come amid criticism by activists and human rights groups of deteriorating conditions inside the national prison system.

Another mission is set to visit prisons and police holding facilities in Egypt’s Beni Suef governorate.

In January 2015, Human Rights Watch deplored the "life-threatening" conditions in Egyptian prisons, saying deaths of a number of inmates as a result of torture or physical abuse have been independently documented.

The report issued by the organisation also recorded deaths due to “overcrowded cells” and “lack of adequate medical care for serious ailments.”

The last inspection visit to Scorpion Prison by the semi-governmental National Human Rights Council took place in August.

Among the most common violations reported by the council were overcrowded rooms, medical negligence, and inadequate meals. 

Earlier in December, families of members inside Scorpion Prison staged a protest in front of the Journalists’ Syndicate to shed light on deteriorating conditions in the prison.