Key elements
Detainees retain the right to health, which includes available, accessible and scientifically and ethically acceptable health care of at least the same standard as that in the community. The increased burden of disease due to the concentration of marginalised and vulnerable groups in prisons usually means that additional resources are needed.
The closed setting of prisons means that the detainees are dependent for their mental and physical health on the prison authorities, and thereby on the State. By depriving a person of their liberty, a State takes on a particular duty of care not simply to provide for the treatment of diseases, but to protect and promote the health of the detainees. States cannot justify the failure to provide for the prevention and treatment of physical and mental diseases and the promotion of health by a lack of resources, even in economically difficult times. The duty of protection and care remains.
The prevention of disease and promotion of health also requires the State to provide healthy conditions of detention through good sanitation, good nutrition and drinking water, and accommodation with appropriate protection from the prevailing climate. The State must also take appropriate measures to tackle overcrowding in prisons since this is often at the root cause of many health problems, as well as management and security problems.
Poor conditions of detention and a lack of prison health not only affects the detainees, the staff and the community, but, under certain circumstances they may also amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or even torture. Thus States cannot ignore prison health and must take active measures to prevent disease and promote health in prisons. According to the World Health Organisation, health in prisons must be seen as a whole of government responsibility.