Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

February 5, 2020

Egypt: "Someone is sick guard", leaked audio

News

Africa Middle East Health Egypt

Inmates are kept in overcrowded, dirty cells without ventilation and are given insufficient food.

January 31, 2020

Canada: “prisoners' health is public health”

Interview

North America Health Canada

Incarcerated persons are at substantially higher risk of getting infected with HIV and HCV. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network develops actions to prevent these infections inside and outside of prison. PI asked them three questions.

January 21, 2020

Democratic Republic of Congo: 11 morts en une semaine dans la plus grande prison de Kinshasa

News

Africa Health Overcrowding Violence Congo - Kinshasa

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 20, 2020

Asia: coronavirus, prison fever / 2021

News

Coronavirus Asia Health Material conditions Protest

The Covid-19 has not stopped at prison gates. What measures are taken to guarantee the safety of all prisoners and prison staff? What are the consequences of the pandemic on the living conditions in prisons? — Update 31/12/2021

January 15, 2020

Democratic Republic of Congo: à Kinshasa, onze morts dans l’enfer de la prison de Makala

News

Africa Health Violence Congo - Kinshasa

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 1, 2020

Coronavirus: Prison Fever / 2021

News Thematic paper

Africa Coronavirus North America Central America and the Caribbean South America Asia Elderly prisoners Europe Middle East Oceania Health Mental health Material conditions Activities Social ties

The virus has not stopped at prison gates. What measures are taken to guarantee the safety of all prisoners and prison staff? What are the consequences of the pandemic on the living conditions in prisons? Here is an overview. — Update 31/12/2021

December 27, 2019

USA: prison system faces federal lawsuit over opioid treatment limits

News

North America Health United States

Massachusetts’ prison system faces a federal lawsuit challenging how it provides inmates with opioid addiction medications.

December 27, 2019

Zimbabwe : water, power woes dog prison

News

Africa Health Material conditions Zimbabwe

INMATES and officers at Marondera Prison are sitting on a ticking health time bomb, as they have gone for close to two weeks drinking water from unprotected sources after a pump broke down.

December 27, 2019

USA: Trump makes the most important anti-hunger programm harder to access for people leaving prison

News

North America Access to legal rights Justice Health United States

Under a new rule announced yesterday, the Trump administration expects to slash 688,000 from the rolls of people receiving short-term food assistance.

December 27, 2019

Ireland: case of brain-damaged man in prison "far from rare"

News

Europe Health Ireland

The Director of the Central Mental Hospital has said the case of a brain-damaged homeless man in prison is “far from rare”. Professor Harry Kennedy said there is a caseload of around 250 people in the prisons with severe mental illnesses or disorders. Yesterday, the President of the High Court, M…

December 18, 2019

USA: many issues in Delaware's prison health system remain unaddressed, report says

News

North America Health United States

Despite years of recommendations focusing on problems in the Delaware Department of Correction’s healthcare system, a report issued Thursday by the state’s largest private healthcare provider found that many have not been addressed. Take a recommendation from the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2017 that…

December 18, 2019

Malaysia: eight AIDS-related deaths recorded in Kajang Prison as of October, says deputy director

News

Asia Health Malaysia

Eight AIDS-related deaths have been recorded involving male inmates of Kajang Prison as of October this year, said its superintendent Shollehin Dahari.

December 12, 2019

USA: prison health care costs are higher than ever in Texas. Many point to an aging prison population.

News

North America Health United States

Although there are fewer people in prison than there were a decade ago, costs have surged along with the share of inmates who are older — and sicker.

November 21, 2019

Europe: ignoring prison health can come at a cost for public health

News

Europe Health

Incarcerated people suffer from poorer health outcomes and limited access to health care, which can impact them and their communities even after release. However, prisoners’ health is not being monitored well, and there is a lack of evidence to inform policy making to improve the health of prison p…

November 13, 2019

France: à la prison de la Santé, les détenus les plus défavorisés ont faim

News

Europe Health France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

November 1, 2019

UK: mental health act: calls to end "horrific" detention of young people with autism

News

Europe Health Mental health United Kingdom

“It has been left to the media and desperate, anguished parents to expose the brutal reality of our system of detention of people with learning disabilities or autism.“

September 24, 2019

France: prisons and mental health

Interview

Europe Health Mental health France

People with mental illness are over represented in the prison population. This group is particularly vulnerable and subjected to violence and abuse. Prison psychiatry is a sector that has undergone significant changes lately, in France and elsewhere. Where do we stand right now? In July 2014, Adeli…

September 10, 2019

New Zealand: measles lockdown - prisoners isolated, babies quarantined over fears disease has hit women's prison

News

Women Oceania Health New Zealand

Prisoners have been isolated and babies put into quarantine at Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility over fears of a measles outbreak. On Tuesday night, Corrections informed Newshub there were concerns three female prisoners had been exposed to measles. They will remain isolated until their…

July 29, 2019

Australia: juvenile prison guards strip searches cause mental health problems, former inmates claim

News

Oceania Health Mental health Australia

Children as young as 10 years old are being routinely strip searched in juvenile detention in NSW with minimal or no contraband found, according to new data.

July 18, 2019

Canada: santé mentale en prison, « une fabrique d’itinérance »

News

North America Health Mental health Canada

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

July 10, 2019

Taking equitable health to prisons the Malawian way

News

Africa Health Malawi

The late founding president of democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela, once famously said: “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”

June 30, 2019

France: un nouveau plan sur la santé des détenus

News

Europe Health France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

May 9, 2019

DRC: insufficient health care at Makala Prison

Analysis Report

Africa Health Overcrowding Congo - Kinshasa

“We are sick, but since there is no doctor to see us, we have no access to any medicine.”

April 29, 2019

United Kingdom: dundee dental students scoop award for oral health prison project

News

Europe Health United Kingdom

Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation, Dr. Nigel Carter OBE, has visited the University of Dundee School of Dentistry, to judge community oral health projects and present an award to the winning group. Fourth-year dental students were asked to select an area or group in the local community.…