Signal Men face 12 times normal mortality and 129 times overdose risk in the fortnight after release

Summary

The Men's Wellbeing Initiative describes the period right after release from prison as a window of extreme physical vulnerability for men. In their first two weeks out, men face all-cause mortality 12 times higher than the general population. Their risk of drug overdose over the same period is 129 times higher. The Initiative links these figures to the sudden loss of the institutional structure that governed daily life inside. It uses them to show that the health damage of imprisonment continues well beyond confinement itself. The finding supports its argument that incarceration is a primary driver of health inequality among men worldwide.