ROKA, Cambodia — Frail and depressed after her diagnosis, Chem Mao decided to take her life by climbing a mango tree in her backyard, fastening one end of a rope around a sturdy branch and the other around her neck, and jumping. As she shuffled weakly beside her cinder-block house toward her family’s small orchard she saw her grandchildren playing nearby and relented, collapsing into tears.

“I didn’t have enough strength to get up the tree,” she said. “Maybe I’ll try again another time.”

Ms. Mao, 55, is among more than 200 villagers in this rice farming community in western Cambodia who tested positive for H.I.V. last month. The Cambodian authorities say that an unlicensed doctor who reused syringes and other medical equipment spread the infection.

Even in a country inured to hardship and suffering, the infection of such a large number of people within a radius of a few miles was shocking.

The victims are everywhere — in the wooden stilt houses, in the paddies harvesting rice, in the gilded Buddhist temple at the entrance to the village, and in the playground of the yellow ocher primary school. The 82-year-old abbot of the temple was infected, as were 12 children who attend the primary school. ...


http://www.nytime....html?_r=0

Døds-læge for retten: Smittede bevidst 300 patienter

En uautoriseret læge har ifølge anklageren bevist smittet 300 personer i den lille landsby Roka i Cambodia med HIV

En lægeskandale af de store, er under opsejling i Cambodia.

Den lokale læge i landsbyen Roka, Yem Chroeum, er anklaget for, at smitte 300 personer i landsbyen med HIV, ved at genbruge sine nåle, skriver den cambodjanske avis Phnom Penh Post.

Yem Chroeum er ikke uddannet læge, men har fungeret som læge for de fattige i landsbyen. Ifølge ham selv, har han kureret flere for malaria og mavesygdomme. Når patienterne ifølge Yem Chroeum var for syge, sendte han dem videre til det lokale hospital.

- Retten skal give mig en retfærdig rettergang, ved at lave en grundig undersøgelse af sagen, sagde Yem Chroeum i retten, efter at anklagen var læst op. ...


http://ekstrablad...er/5788415