This paper discusses the data of the survey conducted in 2008 in the Manguinhos Slum Complex, Rio de Janeiro, on therapeutic itineraries of the local population. By therapeutic itineraries we mean the paths taken by the individual in search of a solution to his/her health problems. We aim to identify to what extent these paths are ordered by symbolic schemes or by the availability of resources. A qualitative method focused on the semi-directive interview technique, following an ethnographic script, was used. Three residents of each community of Manguinhos were interviewed, in a total of 26 interviews. The results show that the offer of services is heterogeneously distributed, being itself a generating factor of inequalities in disease. The different strategies show that the knowledge and practices of these individuals are made of, and due to different experiences, given biographic situations and that there is not a single model of Therapeutic Itinerary. The urban "marathons" ran by the local population denounce the urgency of the State to put into practice more fair political policies, with a full access to health care, thus ensuring the respect for the rights.
therapeutic itineraries; healing; religion; access to health; health services