Territory, epidemiology and geoprocessing: catalysts for health education actions in the historical context of leprosy in Brazil

Geoprocessing techniques are important tools for locating health problems, and enhance actions when sectors are in the same territory. This study identified the concentration of cases of leprosy, schools and health units having the territory as a facilitator of actions in the School Health Program (SHP). It is a cross-sectional, quantitative study, considering new cases of leprosy registered in the Notified Aggravated Information System (SINAN) between the years 2007 and 2016. The geoprocessing technique used the Kernel density estimator to identify case concentration areas, schools and primary health care units in the urban area of Vitória de Santo Antão-PE. The spatial distribution indicated a confluence of cases mainly in two neighboring neighborhoods, with four schools and five Primary Health Care units, social equipment potentially facilitating health education actions on leprosy. The load of attributions of health professionals and teachers may make it more difficult to dedicate more time to SHP activities in school;however tools such as Epidemiology and Geoprocessing may facilitate joint work. It is possible to use the territory common to health and education equipment as a catalyst for health education actions for leprosy.