Potentially healthy municipalities network: A way of conducting public policies and producing health

The Potentially Healthy Municipalities Network (RMPS) was established in 2004, with technical support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO / WHO), the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences / Unicamp and from 56  members municipalities. This is a project which collaborates with the construction of Healthy Public Policies and brings out Health Promotion as its main axis. Actions are initiated in an integrated manner, respecting the specificities of social actors involved. The aims to describe the RMPS model and the process of networking from the perspective of managers and employees of a sample of municipalities that integrate the RMPS Project. The method of assessment based on qualitative approach was built by holding a focus group and in-depth interviews with managers. Available documents and the RMPS website were used as database for the quantitative assessment. It was possible to verify from the analytical categories the experiences and perceptions built concerning the RMPS, emphasizing the influence and potentialities of work of the RMPS in municipal administrations for the construction of a Healthy Municipality, and of socially healthy environments based on the premises of governance, developing only government projects, beginning with the organization of local intersectoral committees and the elaboration of public policies implemented through specific laws for the RMPS. Thus, it suggests a proposal of a model of Networking.