[Shifting of emphasis in the world health sector strategy; from political concerns to economic ones].

Primary Health Care, proclaimed by WHO in 1978, is a health strategy that aims to achieve the ultimate objective "Health For All", with underlying political concerns for ideals such as social justice, equity and human rights. Meanwhile, "globalization", urged by the U.S.A., other developed countries and multinational corporations, has since promoted liberalization of trade, capital and finance, which has in the past few decades been sweeping all over the world. With this "new economic liberalism", values that put much emphasis on economic efficiency are now at the forefront. The World Bank, which supports the tendency along with the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, has become an influential actor in helping developing countries to prosper economically. The World Bank, whose basic idea is that investment in health is basic for economic growth, has in the 1990s also exerted considerable influence on the international health sector with its overwhelming provision of financial assistance. Instead of political concerns like equity and human rights, 'economic concerns' such as fairer budget allocation, cost-effectiveness, cost reduction and efficiency have now become main points for discussion in the international health field. This shift in emphasis poses fundamental questions for the core goal of the World Health Organization; "Health For All".

Soroprevalência da infecçäo pelo vírus herpes humano 6 em Pernambuco / Seroprevalence of human herpes virus 6 infection in Pernambuco

A seroprevalência da infecçäo pelo vírus herpes humano 6(VHH-6) foi investigada em 526 brasileiros e 250 japoneses e descendentes residentes no Recife e regiöes vizinhas no Nordeste do brasil. Um total de 776 soros de indivíduos foram examinados para pesquisa de anticorpos IgG pela técnica de imunofluorescência anti-complemento. O percentual de soropositividade entre os dois grupos foi muito próximo: 73,3por cento para os brasileiros oriundos da regiäo e 77,2 por cento para os de ascendência Japonesa. Nas duas populaçöes estudadas as mulheres mostraram índices de positividade discretamente mais altos que os homens. Estes índices foram significativamente mais altos em indivíduos considerados de nível sócio econômico mais baixo. A alta prevalência de anticorpos anti-VHH-6 entre crianças indica que a infecçäo por este vírus ocorre muito cedo nesta regiäo. Análise comparativa mostra näo haver associaçäo entre infecçäo pelo citomegavirus (CMV) e VHH-6