Adherence to tuberculosis treatment

biopolitical health promotion strategies in the neoliberal perspective

Abstract

Objective: to analyze how the recommendations on therapeutic adherence present in tuberculosis control manuals constitute biopolitical Health Promotion strategies in the neoliberal perspective. Method: documentary and qualitative research that analyzed five manuals published between 2002 and 2019, based on the post-critical methodology inspired by Foucault. Results: four biopolitical strategies were identified, which correspond to the analytical categories of this study: i) Exaltation of statistical knowledge as a strengthening of managerial logic; ii) Prioritizing the treatment of bacilliferous cases and establishing measures to control the risk of contamination as a way of maintaining the safety of the healthy population; iii) Discursive emphasis on the vulnerable population as a way of omitting precarious bodies; and iv) Discourse about self-employment to overcome poverty, as compensation for the lack of social protection policies. Conclusions: some recommendations for tuberculosis control consist of biopolitical Health Promotion strategies in a neoliberal perspective, promoting health discourses that emphasize individual aspects, such as self-care, self-responsibility, autonomy, and empowerment of the subject. Even in cases where we perceive an association between illness and social determinants of health and situations of vulnerability, tuberculosis control actions insist on actions based on a health managerial perspective. In practice, there appears to be a lack of social protection policies and actions capable of combating inequities, which is essential for effective therapeutic adherence and cure.