title: [Health information systems at the local level]
abstract: Information systems have assumed paramount importance in modern society, becoming an strategic resource of power in all areas. Therefore, it is important that the process of decentralization of the health sector should not be limited to services, but should also consider the decentralization of information. The author discusses the sharing of political and technical responsibility between various governmental spheres, and the need to rethink and redirect the process of making accessible information on health. This is a matter of overcoming vertical relations between government and society and of moving toward cooperative management capable of minimizing regional inequalities and optimizing the utilization of resources.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Saúde Coletiva, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Recife, PE, 50070-550, Brasil.
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Branco