Prisoners bear a substantial burden of physical and
psychiatric disorders relative to the general population.
However, most evidence on the health of prisoners comes
from high-income nations. Long-standing concerns
about the care and treatment of prisoners, such as the
use of capital punishment for mentally ill prisoners in
some countries, are widespread.4–6 The health disparity
between prisoners and the general population has been
attributed to various behavioural and socioeconomic
factors, including high rates of intravenous drug use in
prisoners, which leads to increased risk of infectious
diseases and increased alcohol misuse and smoking.