Voluntary campaign in needy communities in order to accomplish early diagnosis of Hansen disease - integration into teaching staff, student and social service

Abstract

Objective: comparison between the number of patients with Hansen disease obtained in this analysis performed in the State of São Paulo and the numbers found by the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization, as well as the data from three campaigns carried out in the State of Acre – Brazil. Method: dermatological tests were made in 874 children and adults in order to accomplish early diagnosis and treatment of Hansen disease through active search in three voluntary campaigns made since 2001 in several needy communities in the State of São Paulo – Brazil. Results: 57 patients were found which represent 6,5% of the examined people. That is about one hundred times more what show the official indexes from the Ministry of Health (MH). Conclusion: the number of identified patients in these campaigns is much higher than the official Brazilian rates. Although the MH computes cases through spontaneous demand and the patients in this analysis were found by active search, the results confirm that Hansen disease is still highly endemic in the country and it must be diagnosed and treated precociously.