Mr. Speaker, Saturday, December 1 is World AIDS Day. The theme of this year's AIDS awareness campaign is “I Care...Do You?” and aims to involve individuals, especially young men and politicians, more fully in the fight against the HIV epidemic.
Today more than 36 million people worldwide are living with HIV infection. Last year alone three million people died from AIDS, 95% of them in developing countries. One of the many challenges faced by developing countries in fighting HIV-AIDS is access to affordable, life saving medicine.
Two weeks ago in Doha more than 80 countries agreed that TRIPS, Trade-Related Aspects of International Property Rights, should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members' rights to protect public health. This decision will have an impact on the global response to the epidemic.
It is in everyone's interest to ensure the TRIPS agreement is seen as an instrument that reinforces--