Targeting Tuberculars: Social Stigma and Public Health Campaigns

In the fight against tuberculosis one major obstacle is the social stigma associated with the disease. Stigma, which is both relational and contextual, marks the body of the tubercular as a site of danger. This essay reflects on the social history of tuberculosis and proposes that stigma’s contingent history in the Philippines can be traced to public health campaigns carried out during the twentieth century, which sought to segregate and isolate the tubercular to limit contagion but could not provide an effective cure. The stigmatization of tuberculosis persists at present, and public health campaigns may need to address stigma directly.