Rethinking the death penalty through a public health lens: Examples from Malaysia

This paper examines the death penalty through a public health framework, analysing its systemic impacts on individual and community well-being. Drawing on recent legislative changes in Malaysia, including the 2023 abolition of mandatory capital punishment, the study identifies three critical pathways through which the death penalty threatens public health: prolonged confinement of death row inmates, miscarriages of justice, and punitive drug policies. The research highlights how capital punishment creates trauma that extends beyond death row prisoners and affects families, prison staff, legal professionals, and communities. It emphasises the death penalty's disproportionate impact on marginalised groups, including women, sexual minorities, and individuals with disabilities, who face compounded discrimination in the judicial system. The paper concludes that abolishing the death penalty is not merely a legal imperative but a public health necessity, recommending a shift toward evidence-based, health-centred approaches that prioritise rehabilitation, harm reduction, and restorative justice.