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Doctor sentenced for infecting 200 patients with HIV
Highlights
An unlicensed Cambodian doctor was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after he was found guilty of infecting more than 200 people with HIV, including some who later died.
Phnom Penh (AFP): An unlicensed Cambodian doctor was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after he was found guilty of infecting more than 200 people with HIV, including some who later died.
The case has shone a spotlight on the underfunded healthcare system in the impoverished nation where many have to rely on self-taught or unlicensed medics to receive treatment.
Yem Chroeum, 55, was facing the prospect of life in prison but his murder charge was reduced by the court to a lesser manslaughter offence, his defence lawyer said.
“My client still insists he is innocent,” lawyer Em Sovann told AFP by telephone after the verdict was announced.
The rural doctor was convicted of infecting locals in the remote village of Roka in western Battambang province by reusing dirty needles.
For millions of Cambodians, especially the poor and those in isolated regions, unlicensed doctors are the only realistic healthcare option for everyday ailments.
World Bank figures say Cambodia, one of Asia’s poorest nations, has just 0.2 doctors for every 100,000 people, on a par with Afghanistan. Much of Cambodia’s shortfall is made up by unlicensed practitioners, many of whom are self taught. But the HIV infections in Roka shocked the country and saw the government vow to crack down on unlicensed healthcare providers.
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