The utilization of epidemiological knowledge, methods and techniques in the process of health planning and programming has become an object of practical experimentation and theoretical, methodological reflection, particularly in the past 15 years, in the light of the process of reform of the health systems in Brazil and in Latin America. This paper discusses specifically the contribution of epidemiology to health planning in the process of building up the National Health Service in Brasil, based on a study of the trends of epidemiological practice presented in the Brazilian Congresses of Epidemiology held between 1990-1995. In addition, it discusses the theoretico-methodological perspectives of improvemment and redefinition of the practice of planning and programming in health, taking into account the epistemological debates and the conceptual propositions which characterize the field of epidemiology today.
Health Planning; Epidemiological Practice; Epidemiology in Health Services Research