The basic concept of this article is the need to adapt the health systems to demographic and epidemiologic changes, considering that, at the present time the principal health problem of the world is adult health: non transmissible chronic diseases and accidents. As in the previous epidemiological cycle, when maternal and child health problems predominated, the aim must be put in health promotion and prevention, encouraging behavioral changes that decrease or avoid risk factors. The basic tools to incite the change are social communication, the introduction of health educational contents in formal education and the global reorientation of health systems from a predominance of curative actions towards preventive actions. At the present time, the analysis and debate of this topic has allowed the creation of multidisciplinary teams, integrated by epidemiologists, economists and sociologists, that will have to stratify the problems according to the needs and resources of a developing world. In Chile, a project searching for equity in the 35 poorest and postponed communities in the whole country is in operation. The most important result of this exercise has been the resemblance between the opinions of the community and of the public health specialists, which greatly helps the search for solutions.