Abstract

TOLENTINO, Débora; ANDRADE, Ana Regina; RIBEIRO, Maria Mônica  and  ARAUJO, Marcelo. Leprosy: the silence disclosing the stigma and the prejudice. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2023, vol.24, n.3, pp.1186-1197.  Epub Dec 31, 2023. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/23psd240332.

Leprosy is an infectious disease that carries a strong social stigma. Decades of compulsory hospitalization in colonies resulted in the emergence of communities in their surroundings that are important from an epidemiological and historical point of view. Usually they have a high prevalence of the disease and people who have experienced the consequences of isolation and stigma. This article presents a database analysis study, the result of health education and leprosy prevention activities, carried out in schools in an ex-colony region of Minas Gerais. The objective was to assess knowledge and feelings about leprosy among students. For analysis, descriptive statistics were used. We analyzed 325 questionnaires answered by students aged between 10 and 19 years. The results showed lack of knowledge about the disease. Less knowledge about the disease was related to feelings of indifference and greater knowledge to anguish or fear and altruism. More than 30% of students informed they have never heard about leprosy, even living in an ex-colony region, which suggests a silence that can be the cause and consequence of the social stigma that makes it difficult to control the disease. Thus, it is necessary to apply in health education in leprosy at areas of former colonies as a measure of epidemiological surveillance and prejudice fighting.

Keywords : Leprosy; Health education; Social stigma; Health promotion.

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