The danger of contracting tuberculosis (TB) in prison is nine times higher than it is in the world’s population as a whole.
A type of bacteria that causes TB, an infectious disease that most frequently affects the lungs, travels via the air when infected persons cough, sneeze, or spit.
According to the report published in the Lancet Public Health on June 30, 1,148 instances of tuberculosis (TB) were reported for every 100,000 individuals worldwide among the 11 million people who were detained in 2019.
127 cases per 100,000 people per year, which is significantly higher than the incidence rate for all people worldwide. Only 53% of all TB cases in jails around the world were detected, though.
In addition, the researchers discovered a significant correlation between prison overcrowding and national tuberculosis incidence rates.
Leonardo Martinez, study lead from the School of Public Health, Boston University, USA, said: “This connection between TB and overcrowding suggests that efforts to limit the number of people who are detained may be one potential public health tool to combat the TB epidemic in prisons.”
Martinez said, “The high incidence rate globally and across regions, low case detection rates, and consistency over time indicate that this population represents an important, under-prioritised group. Continued failure to detect, treat, and prevent tuberculosis in prisons will result in the unnecessary disease and deaths of many incarcerated persons.”
“And, of course, when incarcerated persons are released from prison, they can take this infectious disease back into the communities in which they live, further contributing to the spread of tuberculosis globally. Greater focus and resources for addressing the tuberculosis epidemic in prisons are needed to protect the health of incarcerated people and their communities.”
Diabetes, alcohol use disorders, smoking, undernourishment, and TB are all associated with higher rates of mortality among prison populations.
The study team, which included researchers from around the world, found that prison TB rates varied significantly by World Health Organization (WHO) region in 2019, with the highest incidence rate in the African region—2,242 cases per 100,000 people per year—almost twice the global estimate for this population.
Again, the Americas region, mostly driven by Central and South America, had the highest estimated absolute number of TB cases among prisoners – 30,509.
Source: GNA
