Da vacina à aspirina: considerações acerca das ações coletivas em saúde pública

Abstract

This article is a discussion of the conceptual differences between individual and collective actions in public health. This difference must not be understood as identical to the artificial difference between preventive and curative measures. It is understood as belonging to the past.The incorporation of the medical and hospital complex by the state and municipal health departments is analyzed and deemed as fundamental for the implementation of the necessary public health measures. It is impossible to separate collective and individual measures for they are both seen as an integral part of each and every public health program.The evolution of morbidity and mortality witnessed in Brazil in the last decades demands an adaptation of public health measures, with more emphasis on individual health measures and on collective measures outside the usual limits of public health.