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The objective of this paper is to analyze theformation of the first concepts on Hygiene as a form ofhealth planning by the public sector and the use of thisconception as a social structuring instrument. The searchby human societies for solutions to their sanitary problemsmakes us reflect on the successful match which explainsthe decision for health to have become not only public butalso a state issue. This reflection is permeated by ideas andinterests where the concern with Hygiene is highlighted aswell as its transformation in a set of private and collectivenorms, objectifying disease control and the improvementof life in society.Along history, the ultimate health problemsthat human beings faced had been related to the nature ofcommunity life. The relative emphasis on each problem oflife in society (pure water and food supply, helplessnessrelief, improvement of the physical environment, amongothers) varied along the time and its interrelationshiporiginated Public Health. Sanitation and shelter; cleanlinessand religiousness; illness and community are evidences of collective concern in the oldest civilizations. During longperiods of History, beliefs and religious practice meantcleanliness and religiousness. People kept themselves cleanto look pure to gods’ eyes, and not for hygienic reasons,such as the current conception.At each historical time, it ispossible to relate the concept of hygiene to the cultural andphilosophical context, which we intend to look over in thepresent work, correlating contexts to the use of the hygienewhile civilization trend and social practice.