[Jail population: rules, epidemiological aspects and literature].

In compliance with the Legislative Decree 230/1999, about the provisions for reorganizing Penitentiary Medicine, the management of the convicts health is attached to the Local Health Authorities (Aziende Sanitarie Locali, ASL). A proper health management, based on the populations real needs, cannot but take into consideration the features of its users as well as their health state. The article shows figures about the Italian jail population and compares them with international data so as to detect risk factors and frequent health problems, before and after imprisonment.