01626nas a2200157   4500000000100000008004100001653002200042653002300064653002300087653001300110100001500123245006200138300000900200490000600209520125300215       1996                            d10aTwentieth century10aNineteenth century10aHistory of leprosy10aColombia1 aObregón D00aThe social construction of leprosy in Colombia, 1884-1939  a1-230 v13 a
Colombian physicians saw leprosy as an important area of inquiry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In order to convince the government of the need to wage a battle against the disease, physicians unfolded a rhetoric where nationalist considerations as well as exaggeration played a principal role. They accepted the conclusions adopted at international conferences on leprosy, and adopted segregation as the only way to prevent the spread of the disease. The racist image of leprosy as an extremely contagious disease inflicting inferior peoples, arose from the imperialist expansion of Europe and the United States in the late nineteenth century when Westerners discovered leprosy in their colonial territories. Between 1903 and the 1930s the Colombian government imposed several regulations ordering the isolation of the sick, and established special institutions for lepers. Around this time, isolation continued to be the main strategy to manage the disease, but medical rhetoric began to change. Doctors regarded leprosy as a curable disease and rejected compulsory isolation. The emphasis shifted to prevention and research. This new approach was connected with liberal ideas that were dominant at that time in Colombia.