The Prison Health database will be used to develop evidence-based guidance on cost-effective disease control and health promotion in prisons as part of national strategies for public health. The information in this database will be updated annually by national counterparts for the WHO Network on Prison and Health or a representative for the Ministry of Health. The prison health database was developed in order to increase the knowledge of prison health, trends in prison health and their importance for public health. The system will be used to obtain an overview of the health situation in prisons and the organization, practice and quality control of assistance to prisoners in Europe. The system includes the whole penitentiary system of a country, including remand prisons.

The development of the database is done jointly by WHO, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and European Network on Drugs and Infections in Prison and supported by a grant from the Public Health programme, European Commission.