Italy's prisons have never been as crowded as they are now and this has aggravated a major health care crisis in the penal system, according the latest report from the Department of Prisons (DoP).
The report was presented at a conference here dedicated to the health situation in prisons and said that there were 59,523 inmates in Italy's 207 prisons compared to a capacity limit of some 43,000 limit.
Of these 33.3% are non-European Union immigrants, over 20% are drug addicts and 19.83% suffer from some form of mental disturbance or nervous system condition. Sebastiano Ardita, responsible for prisoner treatment and management at the DoP, told the conference that "we are well aware that the situation is serious, lasting and involves an involuntary yet inevitable bending of the rules".
"Because of overcrowding, it is impossible to guarantee the conditions and treatment established by law and prison regulations, starting with the prisoner's right to have nine square meters space.," he added.
The record overcrowding, Ardita observed, has coincided with a decline in financial resources "which are allocated based on the prison population of 20 years ago". Ten years ago, he recalled, 1,846 euros was spend per capita for inmate health care, while last year 1,607 euros was spent.
Drug addition is the greatest health care problem in the prison system and regards 21.54% of the inmate population, compared to 2.1% of the general population. Another 20%, or one out of five, has psychiatric problems with 10.25% suffering from depression, 6.04% from other mental conditions, 3% affected by neurological problems and 0.8% suffering from psychological deterioration, the report said.
Illnesses of the liver, kidney and pancreas are present among 10.9% of prisoners, compared to 4.2% among the general population, while over 20% of the female prison population suffer from diseases which affect women, including ovary and breast cancer.
Last year saw 57 confirmed suicides in prisons, up from 52 in 2004 and the same as in 2003.
