Objective:

This paper provides an account of the research on the treatment of Hansen's disease during the 20th century in Colombia in order to analyze the process of medicalization, biopolitics and the meaning given to healing and its impact on patients and disease control.

Methodology:

historical, descriptive and analytical study of treatments for Hansen's disease throughout the 20th century, through qualitative methodologies such as interviews with life stories and thematic interviews, and working with primary and secondary documentary sources in archives national and local.

Results and discussion:

Hansen’s Disease, caused by the microorganism “Mycobacterium leprae”, was controlled via the isolation and seclusion of leprosy patients in hospitals and lazar houses. The development of some treatments and the discovery of an antibiotic therapy using sulfas -which was an effective cure from the standpoint of medicine and its political and social power- participated in the transformation of the management policies for the disease and its understanding at the “Contratación” and “Agua de Dios” lazar houses.

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