In practice, few prison authorities comply fully with these conventions. Low standards of general custodial care and of health care are common. Despite the often limited information available on the health of prisoners, there is increasing recognition of the health needs of prisoners, including the need to control tuberculosis. Contracting tuberculosis should not be part of a prisoner's sentence. Tuberculosis is common in many prisons worldwide and treatment is often ill-informed and inadequate.
Prisons form a reservoir of tuberculosis, including drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is a problem both inside prisons and outside in the wider community, since people enter, leave and re-enter prisons. There is therefore an urgent need to institute effective control of tuberculosis in prisons. Successful tuberculosis control in a country requires effective tuberculosis control in prisons. The specific features of prisons and of prisoners necessitate specific approaches to implementation of the DOTS strategy. The prison health services must implement the DOTS strategy in close collaboration with national tuberculosis control programmes.