Vlassoff C, Khot S, Rao S
Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
World Health Stat Q. 1996;49(2):120-6.
This article presents evidence from two states of India, Bihar and Maharashtra, on the process of "dehabilitation" among male and female leprosy patients, and suggests gender-sensitive interventions to address existing problems in leprosy control. While the study investigated a wide range of gender differences in the impact of leprosy, this article focuses on only two-marriage and family reactions. Important gender differences were apparent in the impact of the disease. While both men and women were negatively affected in terms of their family and marital lives, women suffered more isolation and rejection. Psychologically, women appeared more vulnerable because they were deprived of personal contact with others in the domestic environment where they were accustomed to receiving their greatest emotional rewards. Women reported that indifference to them by other family members, or seeming negation of their presence, caused them the greatest suffering. This underscores the importance of providing information to both leprosy patients and their families about the disease and its treatment, including the possibility of cure with MDT (multi-drug therapy) and of counselling family members about their crucial role in helping patients cope and recover. This support is even more critical for women, who often lack access to the variety of outside advice and assistance available to men. The evidence presented in the article demonstrates the importance of analysing leprosy from a gender perspective, not only because this approach helps to inform our understanding of the determinants and consequences of the disease, but also because it provides new insights for improved disease control.
本文展示了来自印度比哈尔邦和马哈拉施特拉邦两个邦的证据，内容涉及男性和女性麻风病患者的“去残疾化”过程，并提出了对性别问题有敏感认识的干预措施，以解决麻风病控制方面现存的问题。虽然该研究调查了麻风病影响方面广泛的性别差异，但本文仅关注其中两个方面——婚姻和家庭反应。疾病的影响中明显存在重要的性别差异。虽然男性和女性在家庭和婚姻生活方面都受到了负面影响，但女性遭受了更多的孤立和排斥。在心理上，女性似乎更脆弱，因为在她们习惯获得最大情感回报的家庭环境中，她们被剥夺了与他人的个人接触。女性报告说，其他家庭成员对她们的冷漠，或对她们存在的看似否定，给她们带来了最大的痛苦。这凸显了向麻风病患者及其家人提供有关疾病及其治疗信息的重要性，包括用多药疗法治愈的可能性，以及向家庭成员提供咨询，让他们了解自己在帮助患者应对和康复方面的关键作用。这种支持对女性更为关键，因为女性往往无法获得男性所能得到的各种外部建议和援助。本文所呈现的证据表明了从性别角度分析麻风病的重要性，这不仅是因为这种方法有助于增进我们对该疾病的决定因素和后果的理解，还因为它为改进疾病控制提供了新的见解。
