The compliance to the treatment is one of the main aspects in the tuberculosis control, and it is linked to the AIDS epidemic, the progressive drugs multi-resistance, the increasing deterioration of life conditions and the limitations to clinical access. Aiming to ensure an increase in the compliance rates, efforts have been taken worldwide by the implementation of the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course). This study, supported by FAPESP*, aims to contribute to the production of knowledge in relation to the topic, also aiming to identify the meanings of the DOTS strategy according to patients and health professionals in the central and regional areas in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, highlighting its positive aspects and its limits. 23 workers and patients from the “Sé Health Coordination” in the city of São Paulo, Brazil (where the tuberculosis' incidence is higher), were interviewed. Also, there are testifies from workers of the Center of Prevention and Control of Diseases of Health Vigilance of São Paulo's Health Department, from September, 2004, to January, 2005. The empirical material, after being de-codified through a technique of speech analyses, was interpreted according to Hermeneutics-Dialectics. As a result of peoples condition in terms of labor and lives, those who are ill tend to experience their illnesses by establishing life projects, in which the overcoming of their illnesses is a target to be reached and the reason why they decide to confirm their compliance to the treatment. The latter is a complex issue involving the relationship between health workers and patients where the accessibility is fundamental. The DOTS, despite some limited points, has proven to be a strategy that allows an increase in the compliance rate, on top of all, it was considered as a possibility of social inclusion for the studied patients.