Beyond equivalence: Prisoners' right to health

Abstract

Prisons have high levels of psychiatric morbidity and function as mental illness recognition centres. Their healthcare wings are not hospitals and timely transfers to hospital are often unavailable. The United Nations' right to the highest attainable standard of health is assessed according to whether healthcare services are available, accessible, acceptable and of good quality (AAAQ). It is proposed that the AAAQ framework goes beyond the principle of equivalence of care and provides a more sophisticated measure for exploring prison healthcare. Declaration of interest: None.