The theme of social movements so relevant today to social sciences has been scarcely analysed in its relationship to the health conditions. The diversity of health movements and the heterogenity of its social basis present difficulties for this analysis. To understand them, it is proposed to distinguish two dimensions: a structural one, which refers to needs and gaps which give origin to this diversity that can be observed both at the level of the health/ illness situation and the level of health services; and a cultural one, related to the process of "conscientization" born from the recognition of these gaps and through which ideas and values become compatible with the cultural meaning of these movements. In the case of health movements, this seems to be centered upon three aspects: a global concept of health, equality in the access to health services and claim for participation.