Extensões da divulgação científica e da percepção pública da saúde na formulação de políticas públicas

Abstract

Recent researches of public perception towards Science and Technology show that the health themes have acquired greater public penetration, taking part among those more directly interesting to people. Thus, the scientifi c disclosure of information on health has faster consequences, preading in a way that is more cognizable for society, either in the behavior related to the health care and the positioning as for the public policies. Among the health themes, we aim at remarking the aspects related to individual and collective health, on which we suggest a refl ection
as from the discussions concerning stimulation and restriction to the use of cigarettes and automobiles, analyzed under the science and economics perspective. Thus, we aim at refl ecting upon the treatments spent by the electronic media (Internet) with scientifi c studies related to the use of cigarettes and automobiles, with the respective generation of toxic substances and their absorption by the human body, with consequences for the individual, environmental and collective health. The economical arguments present within these studies were also observed, they are related to the treatments of diseases resulting from such causes, and its infl uence in the development of public policies concerning these uses. Lastly, we found that the infl uence of the public perception in the formulation of health policies faces an obstacle as for
the economical aspects.