US mass incarceration damages health and shortens lives

[thelancet.com – July 2019] The USA has a problem with incarceration. Since 1970, the number of people incarcerated has climbed from less than 500 000 to 2·3 million. Despite only 5% of the world’s population living in the country, the USA imprisons nearly 25% of all incarcerated people globally; the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. The sheer scale of imprisonment in the USA and its unequal burden on people from minority and poor backgrounds raises concerns about its impact on the health and wellbeing of the national population. While…

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