The need to create surveillance systems that go beyond data release and generate useful, relevant and accessible information has been widely recognized. To reach this goal the design and implementation of surveillance systems should consider not only technical issues but aspects that guarantee their sustainability and utility and more important, the utilization of surveillance data for resource allocation and planning of health programs and interventions. Until now key issues have been neglected, such as political will, community involvement, decision-making processes and accountability in surveillance outcomes. For many years we have faced the same problems, all within an epidemiological mosaic where infectious and communicable diseases coexist, with limited capacity to conduct surveillance, low priority given by decision-makers, lack of resources, scarce utilization of information, competing priority between chronic, infectious diseases and risk factors surveillance. Technical, management and political approaches involving new partnerships, new ways to involve different stakeholders in the process, new methods and tools, ways to overcome resource restrictions and improve surveillance effectiveness, have to be achieved. An alternative approach has been suggested to meet the above problems and to make surveillance socially responsible; relevant and effective, not only for reporting, but for its contribution to produce the needed health changes and sustain these outcomes. The vision, strategies, methods, tools and results of a community-based surveillance system are presented. Three aspects are addressed, the context in which the surveillance is applied; the theory supporting behavioural risk factor surveillance; the perspectives, goals, solutions and lessons learned from previous experience.