Abstract

FERREIRA, Pedro Gonçalo; FERREIRA, António Jorge  and  CRAVO-ROXO, Paulo. Constraints to tuberculosis control in the prisional system. Rev. Port. Sau. Pub. [online]. 2015, vol.33, n.1, pp.71-83. ISSN 0870-9025.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpsp.2014.11.003.

Prison population is rising in the majority of the countries in the world, and has been related to some of the highest tuberculosis (TB) rates ever registered in any human population. Prison outbreaks have been known to occur but the implementation of specific guidelines was always incomplete and heterogeneous due to specific obstacles posed. Inmates' infectious risk, lack of structural conditions, prison's lifestyle, impact of inmate nonofficial hierarchical stratification, therapeutic discontinuation and disarticulation between healthcare institutions were some of the encountered problems. Managing prison TB effectively will demand a renewed attention and a higher political awareness to major reforms in prisons.

Keywords : Tuberculosis; Control and prevention; Infectious diseases; Prisons.

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