Vigilância sanitária como promotora de saúde: da Complexidade à Equidade

Abstract

This work was aimed at building a theoretical basis to allow ‘Sanitary Surveillance’ to enlarge its horizons in order to act as a health promoting activity. Qualitative methodology with an exploratory approach was used, emphasized by bibliographic search, to gather the thoughts of various authors, which were, mostly, disperse and disconnectedly assessed. These works were bound in a coherent and integrative manner, unveiling the proximity between ‘Sanitary Surveillance’ and ‘Health Promotion’. Descriptions, identifications and assessments of both ‘Sanitary Surveillance’ and ‘Health Promotion’ were achieved through a triangulation of data, of sources of information and of ways of assessment. Concepts such as ‘ecosystem health approach’, ‘equity’ and ‘complexity’ were also used to explore the possibilities of ‘Sanitary Surveillance’, regarded as a complex and transdisciplinary system, to encompass social participation and equity when fostering peoples’ quality of life.