Project description
A closer look at the elimination of leprosy
In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the elimination of leprosy as a global public health problem. The number of affected people has decreased dramatically since the 1980s due to the advent of multidrug therapy. However, such extraordinary decrease might be partially explained by the increase in misdiagnosed cases. As some researchers have argued, the announcement of the global elimination of leprosy has caused the closing down of awareness campaigns as well as the progressive loss of expertise in diagnosing leprosy. As a consequence, people affected by leprosy are being overlooked worldwide. The EU-funded Absent Presences project will conduct an ethnographic research targeting the lives of uncounted people affected by leprosy in Latin America and, by doing so, examine the impact of WHO’s announcement in this specific context.
Objective
This research project focuses on the absent presences of people affected by leprosy in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) making of a leprosy-free world. In 2000, WHO announced the achievement of the global elimination of leprosy as a public health problem (defined by a prevalence rate of less than one case per 10,000 persons). Since the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT) in the 1980s, the number of cases registered globally has decreased from over 5 million to about 200,000 cases. However, many scholars have suggested that such an extraordinary decrease is not due to a drop in transmission rates, but rather to an increase in misdiagnosed cases. They argue that the announcement of the global elimination of leprosy has caused the closing down of active surveillance campaigns as well as a progressive loss of expertise in diagnosis and treatment of leprosy. According to some estimates, between the years 2000 and 2020 as many as 4 million cases will be overlooked worldwide. This process has given rise to new challenges such as the increase of foreign-born cases in countries in the Global North. Drawing on literature from Science and Technology Studies (STS), medical anthropology and critical studies of global health, I propose to conduct a multi-sited ethnography focused on the uncounted lives of people affected by leprosy across borders in Latin America, examining WHO’s ongoing leprosy-free world project in specific settings. I argue that, in order to understand a possible drop in new cases and/or increase in under- and misdiagnosis, it is necessary to examine both local heterogenous elements and modifications in WHO’s global leprosy program. In particular, I will explore the modes of production of statistical data, central to evidence-making processes in the global epidemiological reality of leprosy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- social sciences sociology anthropology science and technology studies
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
14195 Berlin
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.