[Health and citizenship in contemporary Belgium]

We summarize the relations between the development of health policies and the definition of citizenship in Belgium during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the limited scope of the present article we describe the main developments and offer a plausible introduction to subsequent studies. We aim to show that thanks to the scientific study of the changes that took place during two centuries, we can understand the reasons why there are currently so many contradictions in health policy. It is hoped that our findings will help us to better understand the present and prepare for the future.