01737nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653002700059653002100086653001100107653001000118653001900128653001200147653001200159653002000171653001400191653001700205653002300222653003000245100001400275245007900289300001000368490000700378520106000385022001401445       2004                            d  c2004 Jan-Mar10aAnthropology, Cultural10aHealth Education10aHumans10aIndia10aLeper Colonies10aleprosy10aPoverty10aQuality of Life10aSelf care10aSelf Concept10aSocial Environment10aWorld Health Organization1 aStaples J00aDelineating disease: self-management of leprosy identities in South India.  a69-880 v233 a<p>The national and international agencies working to eliminate leprosy are also dominant in setting the boundaries of official discourse on the issue. Within these boundaries the disease is commonly represented as a medical problem with negative social consequences, and it is believed that both problem and consequences will be resolved if leprosy is eliminated and its victims treated and (if necessary) reintegrated within their social groups. For those affected by leprosy the issues are frequently different, elimination in some respects representing a problem as much as a solution. Against this background, which I describe with reference to a group of leprosy-affected people in South India and their position vis- -vis leprosy organizations, I explore some of the contexts in which leprosy patients actively manage their own situations, often in defiance of prevailing development orthodoxies. I conclude that closer observation and analysis of the strategies patients use to manage their disease status have important policy implications.</p>
  a0145-9740