Pan American Health Organization World Health Organization

Stigma associated with mental illness produces a series of adverse conditions that can result in exclusion in health. From the perspective of health systems, however, this phenomenon has not been widely studied. Hence the purpose of this study is to establish the importance of stigma as a barrier to access to the health services, and to identify ways to reduce exclusion in health due to stigma that go beyond the protection of the rights of the individual and place it within the framework of the extension of social protection in health. To this end, the study attempts to analyze the subject on the basis of what is happening today in the countries of Latin America in relation to: 1. The characterization of exclusion in health associated with stigma and its consequences; and 2. The identification of a set of indicators to measure the various aspects associated with stigma, thereby contributing to the strengthening of social protection policies for persons with mental illness. It takes into account initiatives that have been successful i