Italian prisons face critical healthcare staff shortage, says UGL health chief

Gianluca Giuliano, national secretary of UGL Salute, warned that Italy’s prison system is suffering a dramatic shortage of medical staff, turning detention into a de facto denial of care. Data cited from Avvenire indicate that about 70 % of inmates suffer from at least one chronic or psychiatric condition, yet the country’s 189 penitentiaries lack roughly 1,700 health professionals. Giuliano said, “Oggi opera appena un medico ogni 315 reclusi,” highlighting that the current staffing level prevents essential treatments and has, in severe cases, led to deaths.

The crisis is compounded by bureaucratic hurdles, a lack of translators for specialist visits, and a reliance on isolation and extensive psychotropic medication to manage mental health issues. Giuliano called the situation “un’emergenza sociale prioritaria” and urged the government to launch an extraordinary recruitment plan for prison medicine and to provide dignified contracts for health workers. He stressed that the right to health is constitutional and must extend to those behind bars, both for humane treatment and successful reintegration.

UGL Salute has partnered with civil society initiatives such as the “Diario dal Carcere” to bring attention to these conditions, seeking to break the silence surrounding prison healthcare and to secure adequate, dignified care for detainees.