Publications on Prisoners

Thailand’s prison population has steadily increased over the years and the country has the dubious distinction of having the largest prison population and the highest incarceration rate among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states.

Global Prison Trends 2018 is the fourth edition in Penal Reform International’s annual series, published in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice.

Following the government’s ongoing ‘war on drugs’, law enforcement operations increased, leading to a rapid rise in the numbers of people held in detention and prison facilities.

The Global Prison Trends 2017 report by Penal Reform International, in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice, provides a window to one of the least visible and least accessible government sectors, while highlighting some of the most intractable correctional issues for policy makers across the world.

To successfully address HIV and hepatitis where injecting drug use occurs, countries should prioritize implementing NSPs and evidence-based drug dependence treatment (specifically OST), HIV testing and counselling and access to antiretroviral therapy.

Needle and syringe programmes (NSP) provide access to sterile injecting equipment to people who inject illicit drugs to prevent the transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C through shared injection equipment.

This second edition of Global Prison Trends looks at some of the key developments in prison policy and practice since the first edition was published.

The inability of governments to address the needs of large prison populations, the lack of financial support and training for prison health staff, and various comorbidities presenting among prisoners with TB make it difficult to deliver effective TB treatment in prisons, cause delays in diagnosis, facilitate rapid spread of infection, and trigger frequent treatment interruptions.

In this report, Do no harm: health, human rights and people who use drugs, UNAIDS shows what works to reduce the impact of HIV and other harms related to drug use.

The report recognises that the right to health and freedom from ill treatment are inseparable, which places human rights-based prison monitors, particularly those with a preventative mandate, in a unique and critical position to consider these issues.

This revision is based on the increased in the number of prisoners, prisoners’ health needs, and lessons learnt from the implementation of the first version of the Prison Health Services (PHS) Strategy.