The term sanitary safety (SS) appeared in the international debate mainly due to the emerging sanitary crisis, although its meaning has remained obscure. This paper aims to analyze the concept of SS brought into the Brazilian sanitary surveillance upon the creation of the National Health Surveillance Agency. An exploratory case study was undertaken with technical data analysis and semi-structured interviews with informants who had taken part in the process of formulating the body's institutional design. The following categories were analyzed: incorporation of the SS term into the institutional mission, the SS concept and SS mechanisms. The SS concept was analyzed in both institutional and technical discursive dimensions. The former elicits the sense of strategy, a reliable relationship and legitimacy whereas the latter shows the sense of an acceptable risk-benefit relationship from the perspective of individual and collective health protection and promotion. The SS concept was found to encompass health-related products, technologies and services, especially those designed for medical diagnosis and treatment, but environmental issues received little mention. The scope of the SS concept was shown to be widening to include the surveillance of hospital infection, drugs and blood.
Sanitary safety; Sanitary risk; Sanitary surveillance; Health protection