The repeated seizure of HIV medications destined for developing countries via the Netherlands has enraged advocacy groups, who stress that the drug confiscations put many lives at risk. In late February, organizations including Oxfam International and Knowledge Ecology International sent letters to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) voicing their concern about the situation.

In the most recent case, Dutch authorities seized HIV drugs that had been manufactured in India and purchased by international aid agencies for distribution in poor nations. Dutch officials claimed that the low-cost drugs infringed upon European intellectual property rights.

However, Joep Lange, director of the country's National AIDS Therapy Evaluation Centre believes Dutch customs officials overlooked an important exception to patent rules: “the World Trade Organization 2001 Doha declaration allows for exceptions to patent rules for developing countries in cases of medical necessity. In this particular situation, this rule of exception should have prevailed over European patent law.”

Lange says that Dutch customs officials held up the delivery of drugs for similar reasons at least a dozen times last year, angering aid agencies worldwide. Interruptions in drug treatment can have severe consequences, including the risk that patients will develop drug resistance.

“The holding up of drug shipments is of concern to the WHO because of the impact it can have on equitable access to safe, affordable medicines,” says Thomas Abraham, a WHO spokesperson. According to Abraham, the WHO has been in discussions in recent weeks with the WTO and many of the countries involved in the ordeal to see what can be done to resolve the issue.