Alberto Pellegrini Filho - Fiocruz/ENSP - Documento produzido em parceria ou por autor vinculado à Fiocruz, mas não consta à informação no documento.During the 1990s the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean went through profound transformations in their economic, political, and social structures - including in the way that those nations produced, disseminated, and used scientific knowledge that could enhance their citizens' health. Nevertheless, still more changes are needed to fully develop the potential of scientific activity to promote health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In this task the LAC countries face two major challenges: building their capacity to develop, interpret, and adapt new knowledge and technologies, and creating opportunities for democratic consensus-building so that this capacity serves to improve the health of the peoples of the LAC countries. And while those nations confront many weaknesses in generating and mastering the needed scientific and technological knowledge, the situation in the 1990s was greatly improved over that in the 1980s.