HIV trial in Libya

[kimmy]

This strikes me as another example of the mentality August speaks of: medieval peasants... with cell-phones.

Death to the infidel medicss!

A LIBYAN court last night sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death for deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes AIDS, provoking a chorus of Western condemnation.

The ruling, the latest episode in what experts say has been a deeply politicised case, could be a setback for Libya's efforts to improve ties with the West.

The defendants burst into tears on hearing the sentence, while the families of sick or dead victims began to celebrate what they termed as "a just verdict" by singing and dancing outside the court.

...

Luc Montagnier, a French doctor who first detected the HIV virus, has said the infections were present in the hospital in 1997, a year before the medics arrived.

...

Colonel Gaddafi has reason to free the six, analysts say, because it slows Tripoli's normalisation of ties with the West after decades of being an outcast. But freeing the defendants would put the focus on alleged negligence and poor hygiene in Libyan hospitals, which Western scientists say are the real culprits in the case.

By Allah, somebody has to be held responsible for this, because it's unthinkable that their own lack of knowledge of modern blood-screening protocols could be at fault. And despite repeated testimony that the epidemic began before the convicted medical staff even arrived in Libya, they're the handiest scapegoats. The Bulgarians in particular, because their government might be willing to cough up a bunch of money.

This somewhat reminds me of the popular African conspiracy theory that HIV was invented in Western laboratories to wipe out Africans. In this instance, they even caught 5 Westerners administering the virus first-hand. Peasants with cell-phones.

All in all, another example of why Kimmy will never set foot in the middle east, no matter how much money they're willing to pay westerners to come work there.

-k

[August1991]

I wouldn't want to spend a day in a Libyan prison let alone seven years:

February 1999: Nineteen Bulgarian medical workers in Libya are detained for investigation into how children in a Benghazi hospital became infected with HIV. Thirteen are later freed.

....

June 7, 2005: A Tripoli court acquits nine Libyan policemen and a doctor of torturing the medics.

From what I understand, the problem arose because they didn't change syringes between injections. That's common. I recall once getting an inoculation abroad and the nurse opened a new package explaining that because I was a foreigner, she'd give me a new one.

[Charles Anthony]

I am reluctant to pass judgment on who should be at fault with this case or any other case -- I have no reason to trust the Tripoli justice system.

From what I understand, the problem arose because they didn't change syringes between injections. That's common.

It is difficult to put ourselves in their shoes. The people in Libya may be choosing between used syringes or not enough syringes to go around. Which of the two is better? I am uncertain.

However, any health care worker who either decides or accepts orders to re-use a syringe is complicit in transmitting infection. It is analogous to driving recklessly. There is no excuse for re-using a syringe without the recipient being informed -- and I am hesitant to even condone that!

[Argus]

All in all, another example of why Kimmy will never set foot in the middle east, no matter how much money they're willing to pay westerners to come work there.

-k

Not peasants with cell phones, Kimmy, sullen goat herders with machine guns. I too will never go near these kinds of countries, which are the vast majority in the world.

[leonardcohen]

All in all, another example of why Kimmy will never set foot in the middle east, no matter how much money they're willing to pay westerners to come work there.

-k

Not peasants with cell phones, Kimmy, sullen goat herders with machine guns. I too will never go near these kinds of countries, which are the vast majority in the world.

The sheer gaul of that whole fiasco makes me wonder,is there anywhere in the mideast that doesn't hate the west,i know,rhetorical question.

Seriously,100's of children, are the people whose children that were supposedly infected, that ignorant and that suffused with hatred that they believe this crap fed them by Qadaffi duck?

[Charles Anthony]

Seriously,100's of children, are the people whose children that were supposedly infected, that ignorant and that suffused with hatred that they believe this crap fed them by Qadaffi duck?

Of what do you assume "the people whose children that were supposedly infected" ignorant?

[leonardcohen]

Seriously,100's of children, are the people whose children that were supposedly infected, that ignorant and that suffused with hatred that they believe this crap fed them by Qadaffi duck?

Of what do you assume "the people whose children that were supposedly infected" ignorant?

Okay, I was wrong to say ''supposed''.I apologize for that ,but they were ignorant of the truth.you don't really believe tha thtere is a shred aof truth to this ,do you?

[Charles Anthony]

Okay, I was wrong to say ''supposed''.I apologize for that ,but they were ignorant of the truth.you don't really believe tha thtere is a shred aof truth to this ,do you?

I do not care about the word "supposed" in the least.

What is The Truth??

Did YOU see these medics at work? Do YOU have proof of what they did?

Up above, Aug91 suggests that it is common practice for syringes to be re-used in some of these parts of the world. If some of the infected people got AIDS as a result of the re-use of syringes without knowing that they were getting used needles, these convicted medics are certainly guilty of spreading disease.

[leonardcohen]

Okay, I was wrong to say ''supposed''.I apologize for that ,but they were ignorant of the truth.you don't really believe tha thtere is a shred aof truth to this ,do you?

I do not care about the word "supposed" in the least.

What is The Truth??

Did YOU see these medics at work? Do YOU have proof of what they did?

Up above, Aug91 suggests that it is common practice for syringes to be re-used in some of these parts of the world. If some of the infected people got AIDS as a result of the re-use of syringes without knowing that they were getting used needles, these convicted medics are certainly guilty of spreading disease.

Do YOU believe they are guilty?

[Charles Anthony]

I believe you are afraid to answer my question and you are more comfortable condemning people without proof.

Do YOU believe they are guilty?

I do not know and thus, I do not pass judgment on them.

Neither of us know what the medics did nor do we have any proof.