Kazakh medical workers guilty of causing HIV outbreak

摘要

21 medical workers in Kazakhstan have been found guilty by a court in southern Kazakhstan of causing an HIV outbreak that has so far killed ten children and infected many others. Since 2006, about 119 children are known to have contracted HIV infection at hospitals in Shymkent, a city located about 1600 km south of Astana, Kazakhstan's capital. Four senior health officials were given suspended sentences, whereas the other medical workers were given up. to 8 years imprisonment. The judge blamed the HIV outbreak on corruption. The parents of the HIV-infected children said they were charged US dollar 20 by the doctors for blood transfusions, and the doctors had a share of profits with the local blood bank. The children allegedly received multiple and unnecessary blood transfusions and in many cases, according to the judge, the children received blood transfusions without the consent of their parents. An investigation by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the repeated use of non-sterile medical equipment and the unsafe use of blood and blood products. The medics were accused of negligence, abuse of patients, and theft of health funds.