Salud en cárceles del Uruguay Reflexiones y propuestas de intervención en gestión y política sanitaria

Abstract

The Prison Parliamentary Office of Uruguay is the one that, according to the law, supervises and advises the adult penitentiary system. At the end of April 2022, it presented its preliminary report for the year 2021 on the situation of the prison system in our country. Although the report covers multiple thematic areas, ranging from prison administration to the role of external organizations that affect the institute, the purpose of this article is to focus on the health aspects of the report, analyze them, present some reflections, and propose where a policy of prison health care and management should be directed in the country. The report shows a prison system that does not meet the minimum level established by international standards. So far, the Ministry of Health has not yet created a specific area that directs and regulates a prison health strategy in the country. Assistance is fragmented and weak, affecting prisoners, their families and the community. A unified policy led by an area defined in the Ministry of Health, based on primary care, with the participation of all actors involved in the prison system, promoting campaigns that include prisoners as active users, in added a protect and train staff, are some of the aspects that a national health strategy in prisons should consider to guarantee universal and quality access.