Determination and control of schistosomiasis

The subject of this conference reflects the scientific community's interest in seeking to understand the complex causal web whose various social, economic, and biological components interact in the production and reproduction of schistosomiasis and its control in relation to community participa...

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Main Author: Frederico Simões Barbosa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) 1995-04-01
Series:Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02761995000200005
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author Frederico Simões Barbosa
author_facet Frederico Simões Barbosa
author_sort Frederico Simões Barbosa
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description The subject of this conference reflects the scientific community's interest in seeking to understand the complex causal web whose various social, economic, and biological components interact in the production and reproduction of schistosomiasis and its control in relation to community participation. From the onset, the author stresses the impossibility of dealing separately with community participation, as if social components were just one more "weapon" in the arsenal for schistosomiasis control. This study begins with a brief historical review of the 71 years of control activities with this endemic disease, stressing the enormous efforts and huge expenditures in this field vis-à-vis the limited results, despite the extraordinary technological development of specific, classical control inputs such as new treatment drugs and molluscicides. The article then discusses the various strategies used in control programs, emphasizing ideological consistencies and contradictions. Interactions at the macro and micro levels are discussed, as are the determinants and risk factors involved in producing the disease's endemicity. Unequal occupation of space leaves the segregated portion of the population exposed to extremely favorable conditions for transmission of the disease. This raises the issue of how to control an endemic disease which is so closely linked to the way of life imposed on the population. The study challenges the classical control model and suggests an alternative model now undergoing medium-term investigation in the States of Espirito Santo, and Pernambuco, Brazil. The author concludes that we do not need new strategies, but a new control model, contrary to the prevailing classical model in both concept and practice. From the conceptual point of view, the new model mentioned above is different from others in that schistosomiasis control is seen from a social perspective stressing the population's accumulated knowledge in addition to the building of shared knowledge. The model's praxis has the following characteristics: (1) it is integrated with and financed by research agencies and health services; (2) it operates at the local health services level; (3) use of molluscicides has been eliminated; (4) emphasis is given to individual medical treatment and improvement of sanitary conditions.
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spelling doaj.art-7b0a4146c6a741afb2755a6fee00d6402023-09-02T16:26:11ZengFundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz0074-02761678-80601995-04-0190215515910.1590/S0074-02761995000200005Determination and control of schistosomiasisFrederico Simões BarbosaThe subject of this conference reflects the scientific community's interest in seeking to understand the complex causal web whose various social, economic, and biological components interact in the production and reproduction of schistosomiasis and its control in relation to community participation. From the onset, the author stresses the impossibility of dealing separately with community participation, as if social components were just one more "weapon" in the arsenal for schistosomiasis control. This study begins with a brief historical review of the 71 years of control activities with this endemic disease, stressing the enormous efforts and huge expenditures in this field vis-à-vis the limited results, despite the extraordinary technological development of specific, classical control inputs such as new treatment drugs and molluscicides. The article then discusses the various strategies used in control programs, emphasizing ideological consistencies and contradictions. Interactions at the macro and micro levels are discussed, as are the determinants and risk factors involved in producing the disease's endemicity. Unequal occupation of space leaves the segregated portion of the population exposed to extremely favorable conditions for transmission of the disease. This raises the issue of how to control an endemic disease which is so closely linked to the way of life imposed on the population. The study challenges the classical control model and suggests an alternative model now undergoing medium-term investigation in the States of Espirito Santo, and Pernambuco, Brazil. The author concludes that we do not need new strategies, but a new control model, contrary to the prevailing classical model in both concept and practice. From the conceptual point of view, the new model mentioned above is different from others in that schistosomiasis control is seen from a social perspective stressing the population's accumulated knowledge in addition to the building of shared knowledge. The model's praxis has the following characteristics: (1) it is integrated with and financed by research agencies and health services; (2) it operates at the local health services level; (3) use of molluscicides has been eliminated; (4) emphasis is given to individual medical treatment and improvement of sanitary conditions.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02761995000200005schistosomiasis controlalternative model for contrlBrazil
spellingShingle Frederico Simões Barbosa
Determination and control of schistosomiasis
Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
schistosomiasis control
alternative model for contrl
Brazil
title Determination and control of schistosomiasis
title_full Determination and control of schistosomiasis
title_fullStr Determination and control of schistosomiasis
title_full_unstemmed Determination and control of schistosomiasis
title_short Determination and control of schistosomiasis
title_sort determination and control of schistosomiasis
topic schistosomiasis control
alternative model for contrl
Brazil
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02761995000200005
work_keys_str_mv AT fredericosimoesbarbosa determinationandcontrolofschistosomiasis