[High-security prisons: How far is it possible to care people in prison?]

In March 2025 the French Minister of Justice announced that, beginning at the end of July 2025, the prisons of Vendin-le-Vieil and Condé-sur-Sarthe would host approximately 200 individuals convicted of drug trafficking within newly established units specifically designed to address organized crime. Incarceration conditions in these high-security facilities will be extremely strict, with the explicit goal of severing incarcerated people's contact with the outside world. The detrimental effects of solitary confinement on incarcerated people's health are well-documented, and numerous international conventions and treaties stipulate that such measures should be used only in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, and for the shortest time possible. This article examines the role of healthcare professionals within these high-security units. To what extent can the principle of equivalence of care - according to which incarcerated individuals must receive healthcare equivalent to that provided to the general population - be upheld in this context? We address the issue of the ethical responsibility of healthcare professionals working in facilities where conditions of incarceration are known to have deleterious effects on the health of incarcerated individuals.