Promoting health is a global policy that has been proposed, is contemporary in public health, and addresses health from a broader viewpoint. The National Policy for Full Attention to Men's Health is based on male uniqueness. This study aimed to analyze men's discourse on disease prevention, on health, and on the need to promote it. Descriptive and exploratory qualitative research conducted with 57 men, residents assigned to a Family Health Strategy unit in the municipality of Marília, state of São Paulo, integrated with Education through Work for Health Program. The researchers used the discourse of the collective subject technique, which is based on the questions 'what do you do to maintain your health?' and 'what do you consider harmful to your health?' In the results, the discourses analyzed showed that most men do not fully understand the sense of health or disease and prevention, besides the fact that they base themselves on biological scaling. The National Policy for Full Attention to Men's Health is an important health promotion strategy; however, it still requires professionals and institutions from different areas, over and beyond health, to be agile, creative, and qualified to deal with such uniqueness and vulnerabilities.
promotion of health; human health; primary health care
