[Social policy and a plan for mental health].

Social policy is defined; starting with the concept of health, actions are described and specified beyond the traditional medical model. Using drug dependency as an example, the concepts of damage and vulnerability are applied to illustrate how mental health actions operate in the development of social medicine and place it in the framework of social policy. The need for such a policy is outlined, with a strategy stemming from it. Priority actions in the mental health field are specified and it is shown that actions go beyond professional activities as understood in the traditional models.