Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh, North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op):
My right hon. Friend has just referred to the agreement on the amendment to the TRIPS rules. That agreement is very welcome—I pay tribute to him for his role in bringing it about—but he will also know that the previous agreements have not led to a single case of the rules allowing antiretroviral drugs to be brought to those who need them. Will he take steps to ensure that the new amendment brings affordable HIV/AIDS medicines to those who need them in the poor countries of the world?

The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn):
The reason why the agreement has not yet delivered the benefits that we would like is that legislative changes were needed both in developing countries and in the EU—the EU has now put them in place—but we have been providing technical assistance to help countries to take advantage of that new freedom. We must now step up the international effort, because those poor countries that cannot manufacture those drugs now have the opportunity to import them, and it is important that that freedom is used.

7th December 2005, Column 857