UGANDA: DEATH ROW POSES STIFF HEALTH TEST

Ugandan pyschologists spoke out about the affects of being on death row. Patrick Mwase, a mental health and community psychologist at the Institute of Psychology, Makerere University, says: "Being on death row for ages makes you lose a sense of emotional feeling." Another psychologist, Simon Nantamu says, "The value for life diminishes and all one thinks about is how they are going to be killed. This results in nightmares and high blood pressure and general health deterioration." "The immune system of a condemned person weakens so fast and therefore becomes so susceptible to cough and tuberculosis. Because of much confinement indoors, they get little access to vitamin A and as a result develop night blindness faster." Former death row prisoner Sam Laaki said because of the fear of dying "I was rarely hungry for a very long time. I had no appetite. I did not really eat much and that affected my body size besides causing ulcers."