A/HRC/7/30 page 12 tuberculosis and malaria. It called attention to the WTO’s Fourth Ministerial Conference held in 2001 at Doha and the adoption of a Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which supports WTO members’ right to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all. Pursuant to the Ministerial Declaration, the WTO General Council adopted, in August 2003, a decision which grants waivers from the obligations set out in the TRIPS Agreement, thereby making it easier for those countries with insufficient manufacturing capacity to obtain cheaper generic versions of patented medicines. The August 2003 decision also called for the TRIPS Council to prepare an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement that would replace the waiver decision. In December 2005, the General Council adopted a Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement. The Protocol will enter into force upon acceptance by two thirds of WTO members. 30. The WTO continues to organize capacity-building activities in Geneva and in developing countries on the public health-related aspects of the TRIPS Agreement, aimed at ensuring that developing countries have the necessary information to use the flexibilities under the Agreement. III. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 31. AIDS Information Switzerland provided information on access to medicines in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, further to a project it is undertaking on voluntary counselling and testing. They noted that, in Bukavu and Mwenga, 1,500 people were in need of antiretroviral treatment. However, access to treatment is limited and expensive. 32. Caritas Internationalis provided information on access to medicines for children living with HIV. Reference was made to the fact that while an increased number of adults have access to life-saving medications, a much smaller proportion of children living with HIV are receiving paediatric antiretroviral treatment. The current challenges include: lack of research and development of diagnostic tests and treatment adapted for use in children; inadequate capacity to procure and supply medicines; unaffordable cost of paediatric antiretroviral treatment; insufficient numbers of knowledgeable and trained health-care professionals who are aware of the appropriate use of medicines for children and who will ensure adherence to treatment programmes; weak health systems; and lack of scientific information. 33. HIV is often detected in children when it is too late to start treatment. The test that is used to detect HIV antibodies does not produce reliable results for children younger than 18 months. In order to detect the virus in children below this age, virological tests (e.g. polymerase chain reaction) are required, but this technique is expensive and requires sophisticated laboratory equipment and trained staff. Furthermore, this technology is not usually licensed for HIV diagnosis in children. When treatment is available, many antiretroviral drugs used to treat adults do not exist in formulations appropriate for use in children, particularly fixed-dose combinations for children under the age of 12. In low-income settings adult antiretrovirals are often modified (i.e. crushed or broken) for use in children. This carries the risk of over or under dosing making medicines for children less safe than those for adults. 34. Reference was made to a report from UNICEF that indicates that the estimated cost of antiretrovirals for a child in a poor country is US$ 200 per year compared to US$ 130 for an adult. Children’s access to second-line medicines is even more problematic; they are more expensive than first-line drugs because most of the time there are no generic equivalents. The