Reverse prophylaxis: The leprosy stigma from the hospital to the city

Abstract

The history of leprosy as a social problem led to the construction of colony hospitals for the isolation of the ill – a prophylaxis measure, in order to contain dissemination. However, these establishments have reinforced the disease stigma and have lost their meaning in the face of scientific advances in outpatient treatment. Thus, they were progressively mischaracterized, like the object of this study – the Hospital de Dermatologia Sanitária do Paraná, installed in Piraquara, Paraná, Brazil, in the metropolitan region of Curitiba. Based on this scenario, the research aims at analyzing the consequences of the deactivation of a hospital complex, diagnosing its current situation and reflecting on alternatives to minimize its deleterious interferences, contributing to the development of thinking about other urban experiences of organizing the social space in the face of stigmatization. The work was based on revision techniques of bibliographical and documentary sources on the subject and the object of study. The results show that the setbacks promoted a socio-spatial and intra-urban segregation, determining the necessity of inclusion that demand the constitution of public health policies associated to city management guidelines.