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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Susana Corazon C. Ortega, MA, MPhil, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines, 928-2728, sccortega@yahoo.com

Being diagnosed with Hansen's disease (HD, or leprosy) in the Philippines may evoke stigmatizing reactions from family, friends, the community, medical personnel and even within the patient. Stigmatization may be manifested behaviorally or psychologically. Overt behaviors include squeamishness to physical symptoms of the disease, revulsion to physical contact with a patient, teasing or poking fun at the patient and even covering of noses in the presence of a patient. Psychological effects of having leprosy include anxiety, melancholia, bitterness, hopelessness, resentment, denial, fatalism and belligerence. Often psychological factors are not addressed in treatment.

People with HD (Hansenites) are often isolated. The community ostracizes them out of fear of contagion; even family members shun them for fear of association. The repercussions of being a Hansenite are so great – they may lose getting any kind of employment -- that many patients postpone seeking medical treatment.

Even medical personnel are not immune to exhibiting stigmatizing behaviors. Knowledge that their patients are already cured is not enough to make them want to hire these patients as house help. The very presence of medical personnel in a community or household may alert the community that a Hansenite is in their midst.

The burden of being a Hansenite is rooted in people's ignorance of how the disease is contracted and cured. Human rights issues relevant to leprosy include societal ostracism, deprivation of livelihood, as well as the lack of trained medical personnel and well-equipped facilities to alleviate, if not totally eradicate, the disease.

Learning Objectives: