VISITA A UMA INSTITUIÇÃO DE ABRIGO A PACIENTES COM HANSENÍASE NO PARÁ

Hanseniasis is an infectious, chronic and transmissible disease of compulsory notification with a high incidence rate in Brazil and the State of Pará. The article traces a summary of actions developed since the middle of the 20th century, associating them with the existing stigmatization with the disease over that period, reaffirmed by such measures. The article is a report of a current visit to a shelter in the Metropolitan Region of Belém, capital of the State of Pará, where the results of these practices are still observed, which go far beyond the physical consequences of hanseniasis.