NEW DELHI: Prisoners in India are five times more at risk of developing tuberculosis (TB) than the general population, a first-of-its-kind study to assess prevalence of the communicable disease in prisons across the world has found.According to the study, published in The Lancet Public Health, the incidence of TB in Indian prisons is 1,076 cases per 100,000 inmates.

In the general population, TB incidence is 210 per 100,000 population, according to WHO TB report 2022."Overcrowding and lack of ventilation is a known cause of high incidence of TB in prisons.

To prevent this, authorities should conduct regular health screening," Dr Raj Kumar, director, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, said.

A study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases in 2017, in which researchers examined the availability of TB services in the country's prisons, found that diagnostic and treatment services for TB were available only in 18% and 54% of prisons respectively.

"Only half of the prisons screened inmates for TB on entry, while nearly 60% practised periodic screening of inmates," the study said.In the latest study, which looked at the incidence of TB among prisoners in 193 countries, researchers found that 125,105 of the 11 million people incarcerated globally developed TB in 2019 - a rate of 1,148 cases per 100,000 people per year; significantly higher than the global incidence rate among all persons, 127 cases per 100,000 people per year.

However, the case detection rate was just 53% of all TB cases in prisons globally, the study published in The Lancet Public Health found.