This study analyzes the consensus and conflicts with regard to the criteria for what constituted the health problem in Spain and its possible solutions. We start from the assumption that the general idea of change, implicit in the regenerationist project of the end of the nineteenth century, constituted one of the active elements in the proclamation of the Second Republic. We consider three aspects: the critque of a situation in which living conditions had a negative influence on issues of health and disease; the role of technicians or experts--in this case physicians--; and the role of educational aspects. As sources we used the labor press, the general press associated with certain ideological options and social groups, and the Diario de Sesiones de las Cortes. We found that different strategies and concrete choices in health issues, and hence diverse practical interests reflecting differences in class, political affiliation and ideology, could be manifested under apparently identical expressions, eg, those related with the action of regeneration.