Vulnerability and human rights in the understanding of trajectories of tuberculosis hospitalization

Abstract

The goal was to understand how inequality and violation of human rights were articulated in trajectories of vulnerability in tuberculosis hospitalization. Interviews were conducted with people hospitalized for tuberculosis treatment in a hospital located in Porto Alegre, southern region of Brazil, in 2014. Tuberculosis-HIV/AIDS co-infection, harmful use of drugs (especially crack), and life on the streets were the most significant events on the trajectories studied. The analysis, guided by the framework of vulnerability and human rights, and by the social constructionism as one of its theoretical basis, brought up the reflection about social markers of difference - genre, race, social class and stigma related to AIDS and use of drugs - and its intersections in building situations associated with illness. The expressiveness of these markers and their effects on the production of inequalities, discrimination, exploitation and oppression allowed revealing the social and cultural scenarios in which trajectories of tuberculosis hospitalization are built. These findings may contribute to the response that tuberculosis demands, especially by recognizing that health proposals must seek to mitigate vulnerabilities without neglecting the need to confront social inequalities and protect human rights.