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TIGHT intellectual property regimes are rarely in the interest of poor countries (�鶹��ý, 12 July, p 21). I asked Gareth Thomas, the Department for International Development (DFID) minister with responsibility for HIV and AIDS, what can be done about such regimes in the context of medicines, especially those for HIV and AIDS. Thomas replied that members of the World Trade Organization had agreed on an amendment to the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement (TRIPS). As a consequence, developing countries with only a limited or no capacity to make drugs will be able to import generic…