Intergenerational representations of schistosomiasis in endemic area, Jaboticatubas, Minas Gerais

Abstract

Morbidity and the spatial expansion of schistosomiasis have demonstrated that the conceptual explanatory models of the disease/health process and interventional actions need to incorporate explanatory dimensions that go beyond biomedical models (Schall 1998). In this perspective, Gazzinelli et al (1998) emphasize the importance of investigating the social and cultural process of the determination of different health risks. This interpretation overpasses the meaning of the biological perception of diseases, leading to a comprehension of a more complete reality, including the historicity of the phenomenon. In this light, Schall (1998) propose an interpretative and interventional model in schistosomiasis health education which considers the transmission and maintenance of the disease as interaction between material conditions and the social relations of production. In other words, as Trindade (1996) points out "health/disease, are conceptions constructed in social spaces delimited by the relations established by the production, beliefs, values, access to the official health services and education, besides other factors".Considering this perspective and breaking through the compartmentalized interpretation of the disease/health process, Diniz et al. (2003) developed studies in Jaboticatubas, state of Minas Gerais, which have demonstrated that there is no similarity between the representation of students and the reality of schistosomiasis in the area. According to the authors, these representations are anchored on the information passed on through parents and teachers, based on former health campaigns dated from the time when schistosomiasis was a more serious health problem.