The author relates education and health with citizenship through the discussion of basic services and the taxes the population pays. The contradictions resulting from the unequal distribution of the public money, favoring industrial infrastructure over collective consumption, point towards the need for organized popular sectors of the civil society to pressure governments for alternative policies. The author proposes that professionals from public universities offer, in the spirit of public service, the results of their research as technical support for the demands of these organized sectors. Research results relative to the municipal health center's policy towards the public together with other results relative to environment and health risks to Rio de Janeiro favela residents are exemplified. The text includes a discussion about mutual training of organized popular sectors and professionals from the public service network and/or public universities. The Nesc/DCS/Ensp/Fiocruz experience of Education and Health Workshops is presented, calling attention to the debate between popular leaders and education and health professionals about the inherent contradictions between efficiency and efficacy of the public services. A proposal is made to undertake a participative diagnosis as a way for professionals/popular entities to deal with the precarious quality and quantity of information about health risks to the population.
Health and Education; Citizenship; Popular Participation; Public Money; Popular Consultancy