Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi trumpeted a "successful" last-minute compromise on the contentious issue of the relationship of trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) and public health in the manufacture and import of vital drugs. Many analysts contend, however, that the compromise leans more toward protecting the patent rights of Northern pharmaceutical companies than promoting access to life-saving or life-prolonging medicine for millions of people in the South suffering from HIV-AIDS and other epidemics. It is very doubtful that it can unblock negotiations in the other areas, where North-South differences as well as internecine disputes among the rich countries, are more solidly entrenched.
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