Public health implications of substandard correctional health care.

US citizens face a growing threat of contracting communicable diseases owing to the high recidivism rate in state and federal prisons, poor screening and treatment of prisoners, and inferior follow-up health care upon their release. Insufficient education about communicable diseases--for prisoners and citizens alike--and other problems, such as prejudice against prisoners, escalating costs, and an unreliable correctional health care delivery system for inmates, all contribute to a public health problem that requires careful examination and correction for the protection of everyone involved.