This article is the result of the action research "The Sanitary Surveillance Forward Plan (PDVISA) implementation experience in a municipal scope". It analyzes and discusses the challenges to its implantation in the city of Sete Lagoas - MG, which were observed during fourteen months. The study, concluded in November 2008, was carried out by the Public Health School of Minas Gerais in partnership with the Sanitary Surveillance of the referred town and with the support of the Sanitary Surveillance Decentralization Advising Center - NADAV/ANVISA. The challenges observed were related to the new strategies of management used and the knowledge as a value. The triangulation of the action research, the planning and the PDVISA, as well as and the inclusion of all actors, have privileged processes of shared decisions in the collective scope, articulated actions supported by strategies of communication, respect to the different approach techniques and specific autonomy of each one of the team members. Besides, there was commitment to educational practices geared towards an integrative sanitary project more appropriate to their needs and to better living and health conditions. It was confirmed that the modus operandi in Health Surveillance depends on the management model and the conception of Public Health.
Sanitary Surveillance; Planning in Sanitary Surveillance; Action Research