Far too little is known about the health of the six million people, who are incarcerated in Europe every year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a report on Thursday.
The WHO Office for Europe urged countries to view prison time as an opportunity to fight various diseases on Thursday as it presented its first-ever survey on the topic.
Physical and mental illnesses are far more common in prisons than outside, but most prisoners spend only short periods behind bars before re-joining society, the UN health agency said.
WHO stressed the need to see prisoner health as a key public health issue.
The office received information from only 39 of the 53 countries in the region that includes the EU and former Soviet states.
“The report reveals that the general state of monitoring and surveillance systems for health in prisons is poor,” WHO said.
Only 16 responding countries were able to report the share of prisoners older than 55, even though this group faces various health issues associated with advanced age.
Less than half of European countries said they screen new inmates for alcohol abuse, and more than a tenth said they do not check for mental disorders, even though 13.5 per cent of deaths behind bars are suicides.
Treating and counseling inmates improves public health because most of them will one day be released, the WHO argued.
“It is vital that prisons are seen as a window of opportunity to change lifestyles and ensure that no one is left behind,” Senior WHO official Bente Mikkelsen said in a statement. (dpa/NAN)

Related News