In this issue,PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes Newsbrings you the highlights of the topics that made the news in 1996. In terms of health economic concepts, disease management and practice guidelines were most significant in terms of their evolution and expansion. In terms of therapeutic areas, new directions in HIV infection and AIDS, cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disease will have significant economic implications. And one of the most transparent messages for international healthcare systems in 1996 was the need to move to a primary-care focus.