Vladimir Semenyuk said 11 infant wards, with more than 560 babies, were stationed at female labor camps.
Semenyuk attributed a rise in the number of prisoners to the adoption of a new criminal code.
However, Semenyuk noted the penitentiary system's enormous production capabilities. It oversees 598 plants and factories, 291 schools and 338 vocational schools. There are also more than 130 hospitals and medical units, five detoxification clinics and 58 TB clinics within the system.
Semenyuk said the occurrence of tuberculosis had decreased considerably among prison inmates, thanks to better funding.
"We now have the opportunity to purchase the medicine and diagnostic equipment we need," Semenyuk said. "If an inmate is sick, we start treatment immediately."
Inmates are screened for HIV and treated if necessary, he said.
"This is not only our problem, but that of all of society," he said.