Prisons and health
Policy
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Enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is a fundamental human right. Prisoners should therefore have the same standard of medical care as people living in the community. These principles form the basis for WHO/Europe’s commitment to help Member States improve health in prisons, and senior staff of prisons and public health services across Europe recognized them as fundamental international standards in the Moscow Declaration of 2003.
The healthy prison concept reinforces the idea that the health and well-being of prisoners is not the sole responsibility of those providing health care in a prison, but is also dependent upon the regime and ethos of each establishment.
Through the Health in Prisons Programme, WHO/Europe provides technical assistance and makes recommendations for targeted interventions (measures, programmes and guidelines) to prevent and control major communicable and mental health diseases in prisons.
See also
- Drug overdose and prisons
(2010) Surviving the first two weeks after release from prison - Women’s health in prison. Correcting gender inequity in prison health
WHO/Europe, 2009: review of all issues affecting women’s health in the criminal justice system - Trencin statement on prisons and mental health
WHO/Europe, 2007: senior staff from prisons and public health services across Europe drew attention to the need for greater focus on mental health problems in prisons - Status paper on prisons, drugs and harm reduction
WHO/Europe, 2005: evidence on reducing health-related harm associated with drug dependence - Moscow Declaration on Prison Health as Part of Public Health
WHO/Europe, 2003: the need for close links between or integration of public health and prison health services - Prisons, drugs and society
WHO/Europe, 2001: consensus statement by the Health in Prisons Project and the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe on principles, policies and practices
From other WHO sites
- HIV and AIDS in places of detention
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008: toolkit for policy-makers, programme managers, prison officers and health care providers in prison settings (PDF)
Related health topics
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