Preventing infectious diseases in prisons: a public health and human rights imperative

PenalReform

The spread of infectious diseases is a serious problem in prison systems worldwide, with prisoners often many times more likely to be living with Tuberculosis, HIV or hepatitis than a person in the community. Alongside the generally poor and unsanitary conditions prevalent in prisons, one major route to infection is unsafe injecting drug use. Yet very few jurisdictions permit or provide harm reduction services (such as clean needles) in prisons. In this blog, Gen Sanders, Human Rights Research Analyst at Harm Reduction International, says that states have both a public health duty and a human rights obligation to tackle the dangerous combination of drugs and infectious disease in closed settings. www.penalreform.org/blog