Max Baucus: “I highly compliment the Senator from Massachusetts. This is an extremely important statement. Millions of people in the…”

“I highly compliment the Senator from Massachusetts. This is an extremely important statement. Millions of people in the world are suffering from HIV/AIDS, and the current patent the companies have, as important it is, is a measure that should be relaxed so people in many parts of the world get assistance. The amendment recognizes the special declaration concerning public health that was adopted last November in Doha. The special declaration provided assurance to poor countries facing the immense challenges of dealing with public health emergencies caused by pandemics of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, that measures necessary to address such crises in these countries can be accommodated by the WTO TRIPS Agreement, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. This assurance complements the numerous commitments that the United States Government, and its public and private sectors have made to help these countries cope with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. WTO members also used the declaration to reaffirm their commitment to effective intellectual property standards such as those in the TRIPS Agreement. The declaration recognizes that effective intellectual property standards serve an important public health objective of stimulating development of new drugs. I highly recommend this amendment to the Senate.”