The Hansen’s disease throughout its history, has always been an academic, scientific and humanitarian concern for health professionals; in a way that a group of young doctors dedicated to preventing leprosy motivated the São Paulo Society of Leprology to publish the São Paulo Leprology Journal, in 1933. Over the years, this journal expanded its scope of knowledge and, in 1936, became the Brazilian Journal of Leprology, remaining in activity until 1970.
In 1975, the renowned leprologist Dr. Abraão Rotberg, who pioneered the use of the term ‘Hansen’s disease’ instead of ‘leprosy’ (Note: This occurred specifically in Brazil, where the term ‘leprosy’ was viewed negatively), proposed to the Secretariat of Health of São Paulo the creation of a new journal to continue the legacy of the Revista Brasileira de Leprologia. Under the curation of the Health Institute, the first issue of Hansenologia Internationalis was published in 1976.
In 1989, Dr. Diltor V. A. Opromolla announced in the editorial of issue 14(1):1 that the journal's editorial responsibility would be transferred to the Lauro de Souza Lima Hospital, nowadays Lauro de Souza Lima Institute, a reference center for Hansen’s disease for the Ministry of Health and PAHO/WHO.
From 2005, Hansenologia Internationalis (HI) publishing supplements containing abstracts from congresses and symposiums organized by the Brazilian Society of Hansenology
The journal was printed and distributed free of charge until 2008. Starting in 2009, following trends in knowledge production and dissemination in an accessible, democratic, and socially inclusive manner, it began being made available exclusively in an online format with open access. This change enabled the delivery of high-quality information to a broader audience, increasing the visibility of research findings.
Within the framework of this technological development, the Portal of Scientific Journals of the São Paulo State Secretariat of Health (SES-SP) was created in 2021. From that point onward, the journal adopted the Open Journal System (OJS), an open-source journal management and publishing system widely accepted by the Brazilian scientific editing community.
The integration of Hansenologia Internationalis into the SES-SP Portal also enabled a restructuring of the editorial workflow, transitioning from biannual publication to a continuous publishing model. It also facilitated the update of the Editorial Team, new registrations and the revision of information in indexing services and directories, modernization of the journal's editorial policies and guidelines, and a new layout for the publication.
The enhancement and strengthening of Hansenologia Internationalis as a technical-scientific publication would not have been possible without the contributions of renowned national and international researchers and ad hoc reviewers. Thus, with the efforts of its contributors, Hansenologia Internationalis historically ensures its important legacy in the dissemination of studies in the field of hansenology, both in Brazil and worldwide, greatly contributing to the development of research in this area.
Currently, HI Journal is the only ongoing Brazilian and Latin American publication focused primarily on leprosy. It is also one of the few scientific journals of its kind in the world with regular circulation, providing all issues in full, online, and free of charge.