Brussels, 30/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy, marked World AIDS Day (1 December) by returning to the results obtained after negotiations at Doha that will improve access to medicines by clarifying the provisions of the Trade Related Property Rights (TRIPS) on compulsory licensing. In a statement, the Commissioner stresses that the battle must continue and the Commission will do all it can to ensure access to AIDS medicines and also treatments for malaria and tuberculosis in poor countries. The potential offered by the agreement at the WTO will not have an immediate effect for countries which do not have the capacity to produce the medicines themselves, stressed Mr Lamy, hoping to help the countries concerned to benefit from both the letter and the spirit of the TRIPS agreement. He said that the Commission was looking for concrete ideas on compulsory licensing and was considering submitting them to the WTO at the beginning of 2002, making a veiled reference to solutions for supplying medicine using differentiated price proposals providing industry with guarantees about the dangers of the re-import of low-cost drugs into developed countries. Other options could be considered, like authorising poor countries with the compulsory licences to arrange for the medicines to be produced in other countries having the necessary production capacities. The Commissioner stressed that he was well aware that medicine alone (even free medicine) is not enough for preventing or treating disease in the absence of a viable health system, hence the need for aid to develop healthcare infrastructure, training and technology transfer. He pointed out that this was the EU's main objective through its contribution to the Global Health Fund and its strengthening of UE health-related assistance.