Editorial
Gulnar Azevedo e Silva Mendonça
Coordinator of The Scientific Committee of the V Brazilian Congress of Epidemiology
Coordinator of ABRASCO's Epidemiology Committee, Invited Editor
Epidemiology for Health Promotion was the central theme of the V Brazilian Congress of Epidemiology (Epi2002) held in Curitiba, from March 23 to 27 of 2002. The Congress was organized by the Epidemiology Committee of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (ABRASCO) and was attended by more than 3,000 professionals from various areas of the field of Collective Health and Epidemiology. The success of the event can be evaluated both by the many studies presented and by the high level of the discussion reached during the activities of the scientific program.
The present issue comprises the lecture and conference presentations at the Congress, that best emphasize the central thematic and offer valuable material for the reflection on the role of Epidemiology and its potentials for structuring policies oriented toward improving the health conditions of the population. The selection of articles begins with the conference on the background, foundation and prospects of Epidemiology on the development of the National Health System in Brazil. After prioritizing the basic principles of the SUS, equity is discussed in an article that presents the approaches for reducing inequalities in health.
Two other articles discuss the recent conceptions of health promotion, new experiences, critiques and difficulties. Then, to illustrate the somewhat inappropriate use of the concept of promotion, two authors in two different articles make a critical evaluation on human energy requirements and how they are incorporated into the recommendations on feeding habits of the Brazilian population.
The debate on how to measure the health of populations stands out in two articles: the first on the recent proposal based on a compound rate for evaluating health worldwide, and the second making a detailed critical assessment of the concepts involved in the construction of the rate.
The series ends with an article that points out some of the limitations of Epidemiology and praises its strengths.
We hope that with the publication of this collection of the themes presented and well discussed during our Congress, we will be offering our readers material that may contribute to the necessary advances in the work in the field of epidemiology and collective health, thus reinvigorating and keeping present the commitment to planned action oriented toward health promotion and control of disease, allowing the whole population to truly attain a better quality of life.
We would like to thank the authors that collaborated with this issue and all colleagues that through their participation, made it possible for our V Congress to be a major landmark in the history of Brazilian Epidemiology.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
14 Apr 2005 -
Date of issue
Nov 2002
