In this essay, the authors seek to expose critical ideas and ethical reflection by highlighting complex issues that require a thorough analysis by scholars in the interdisciplinary field of public health. The defense of the authors' point of view is to think that the complexity inherent in the field requires a qualified approach to social needs, public officials' creativity, research studies and new ideas, so as to promote a contemporary public health based on the Brazilian reality.
Contemporary Public Health; Social Suffering; Public Policies; Agencing; Social Research