Impact of the COvID-19 epidemic on mortality in prisons

Purpose: to assess the impact of CO-VID-19 on the mortality of people deprived of their liberty (PDL) in the state of Rio de Janeiro and compare the rates observed with those of the general population. Method: quantitative, retrospective study combining the analysis of the 2016-2021 time series of annual mortality rates, cross-sectional study comparing 2016-2017 vs. 2020-2021 and analysis of individual data ob-tained from primary and secondary sources of information. The standardized mortality ratio between PDL and the general population was estimated for the cause of death categories. Re-sults: historical series showed an annual drop (13%) in mortality from 2016 to 2019, a trend that was inverted in 2020 due to COVID-19, which was responsible for 20% of all deaths. Of the COVID-19 deaths, 54.8% were elderly and/or had co-morbidities. Mortality from CO-VID-19 was similar between PDL and the gene-ral population, but mortality from tuberculosis and HIV remained much higher among PDL. Conclusion: the pandemic was probably a deter-minant of the downward trend reversal in mor-tality between 2016 and 2019. Using mortality as an indicator of health and human rights in prisons by health, justice and civil society orga-nizations implies the improvement of informa-tion about PDL in the SIM.