Thursday, August 8, 2013

Revue de presse << Challenged lives. A medical anthropological study of leprosy in Nepal >>

 

Leprosy Mailing List – December 17th, 2012

Ref.:    Revue de presse << Challenged lives.  A medical anthropological study of leprosy in Nepal >>

From:  S. Noto, Genoa, Italy


Dear All,
With pleasure herewith is reported the abstract of the above mentioned publication.
Best regards,
S. Noto


Title: Challenged lives.  A medical anthropological study of leprosy in Nepal

Author: Ulla-Britt Engelbrektsson, University of Gothenburg, 2012


Abstract
:
Formerly in Nepal as elsewhere, established leprosy was a permanent disease.  With recent biomedical advances, however, a multi-drug treatment [MDT] in particular, this is no longer the case.  MDT has not only shortened the time of treatment for tens of thousands of persons affected by leprosy in Nepal, it has also inspired and brought about concerted national and international strategies and actions for the elimination of the disease as a national public health problem [less than 1 in 10,000 population] .  The result is a drastic decline in the number of persons on treatment and in need of treatment.  Concurrently, during later years, a great number of Nepalis, affected by leprosy have been reached and successfully treated at a comparatively early phase of the disease which means less physical involvement.

 

Meanwhile the author's original idea of the early 1990s of "simply" documenting experiences of leprosy as found in interviews with a number of persons affected gradually grew into an effort to understand and explain why leprosy, in spite of the outstanding medical and public health success, is still perceived by most as "the Big Disease", the Maha Rog, and just the worst that can happen to anyone.

 

The presentation highlights the interplay between disease specific pathological processes and sociocultural interpretations and in doing so explains why leprosy in spite of the great medical advances continues to severely challenge the lives of those affected and in many cases to do so years after cure, and why the barriers of leprosy-specific self-care are continuously high.

 

 

Orders:-
Acta Universitatis Gothoburghensis
Box 222, S-450 30 Gothenburg, Sweden

 

 


LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder
LML Archives: http://www.aifo.it/english/resources/online/lml-archives/index.htm
Contact:
Dr Salvatore Noto
Padiglione Dermatologia Sociale
Ospedale San Martino
Largo Rosanna Benzi, n. 10
16132 Genoa, Italy
Tel: (+39) 010 555 27 83  -  Fax: (+39) 010 555 66 41  -  E-mail: salvatore.noto@hsanmartino.it

 

 

 


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