Resumen

GARCIA GUEVARA, Baílde. The contribution of ethnography to knowledge on socio-cultural codes related to localized cutaneous leishmaniasis in a health education program in Venezuela. Cad. Saúde Pública [online]. 2007, vol.23, suppl.1, pp. S75-S83. ISSN 0102-311X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2007001300009.

This article presents the experience with the validation of the ethnographic methodology as an alternative for an objective and timely approach to the construction of socio-cultural scenarios in communities affected by cutaneous leishmaniasis in Venezuela. It begins with a brief presentation on the resurgence of leishmaniasis in the Americas as a whole and in Venezuela in the context of social inequalities. It proceeds with a review of the role of health education in programs to control endemic diseases. It then highlights the role of ethnography in the construction of rationality in daily life, its meanings, and interpretation by persons with the disease in order to elaborate permanent and sustainable health education programs. The methodology was validated using a figure in which an analysis was performed of the clinical and epidemiological history normally used to gather information on the disease. Among the main findings was the inadequacy of the clinical history design for obtaining information on socio-cultural factors linked to the disease, expressed by specific geographic territories with the support of georeferencing.

Palabras llave : Health Education; Consumer Participation; Cultural Anthropology; Leishmaniasis; Social Inequity.