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.
BT - Medical anthropology C1 -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754668?dopt=Abstract
DA - 2004 Jan-Mar DO - 10.1080/01459740490276075 IS - 1 J2 - Med Anthropol LA - eng N2 -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.
PY - 2004 SP - 69 EP - 88 T2 - Medical anthropology TI - Delineating disease: self-management of leprosy identities in South India. VL - 23 SN - 0145-9740 ER -