One-Third of Prisoners in Europe Suffer Mental Health Disorders

London: “Prisons are embedded in communities and investments made in the health of people in prison become a community dividend,” said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for Europe. “Incarceration should never become a sentence to poorer health. All citizens are entitled to good-quality health care regardless of their legal status. When prisons are excluded from the general health system, local communities can be the hardest hit,” Dr. Kluge cautioned.

The second status report on prison health in the WHO European region provides an overview of the performance of prisons in the region based on survey data from 36 countries, where more than 600,000 people are incarcerated. Findings showed that the most prevalent condition among people in prison was mental health disorders, affecting 32.8 per cent of the prison population.