The database forms part of the WHO’s Health in Prisons project (HIPP). The HIPP was started in 1995 to encourage member states to address health and health care in prisons and to enable better collaboration between prison health and public health at both a national and international level.
It seeks to provide evidence on cost-effective disease control and health promotion in prisons.
Health in prison - a neglected issue
Health in prisons has been for a long time a neglected issue, despite the fact that health in prisons is commonly worse than in the community.
According to figures from the WHO, communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) as well as sexually transmitted diseases are far more prevalent in prisons:
the existence of HIV is 20 times higher among prison inmates than the general population and;
the existence of hepatitis C is 100 times higher.
Prisons can also have a very negative effect on an inmate’s mental health.
As a result of overcrowding, malnutrition and drug abuse, prisons are breeding grounds for communicable diseases. Inmates, according to WHO are also more likely to have led unhealthy lives and to have been exposed to drugs and alcohol before entering the prison environment.
These factors mean that people in prison are far more likely to be in poorer health than if they were living in the community.
Inadequate health provisions and a lack of health promotion and prevention also contribute considerably to the problem of health in prisons. It is not uncommon for health care in prison to be provided by unqualified guards in the place of nurses. Prison health systems are also often governed by the judicial system and are divorced from health care systems accessible by all other citizens.
Health in prisons and the wider community
High rates of communicable diseases and poor healthcare provisions are a major issue in prisons and can also have a very negative impact on the wider community. Prisoners are rarely detained for life and after having served their time are released back into the community. Prison contracted diseases therefore pose a serious threat to the wider population as diseases can be easily spread once the prisoner is released. Tackling poor health in prisons is not only beneficial for prisoners, but will help to reduce rates of disease among the wider population.
How to improve health in prisons
The WHO have recognised the need to address the situation of poor health in prisons and have identified a number of objectives as part of the framework of it’s Health in Prisons Project (HIPP).
The objectives underline the need to improve healthcare provisions available to prisoners. They also highlight the importance of public health promotion in prisons, assert the need to align public health provisions in the wider community with public health in prisons and emphasise the inclusion of health care and health education as part of a prisoner’s rehabilitation programme.
