[Reflections on health policy evaluation in Brazil].

This article aims to contribute to the debate on public policy evaluation, specifically in the Brazilian health sector. The objective is to analyze some of the key issues in this field through a literature search in the SciELO database. Sixty-six articles were selected using the descriptors "health evaluation" and "evaluation of health programs and projects" in indexed Brazilian public health periodicals from 1994 to 2009. The article explores aspects of academic output according to an established typology and in relation to possibilities for developing the theme of policy evaluation, linked to interventions focused on efficacious, efficient, and effective treatment of the population's health problems.