A 57-year-old man has been jailed for 25 years for deliberately infecting 270 persons with the HIV virus at his unlicensed clinic located in a village in Cambodia.
Yem Chrin was sentenced on Thursday by the Battambang Provincial Court of First Instance, after authorities found an unusually high rate of HIV infection in Roka commune, Battambang province, Western Cambodia, where his unlicensed clinic was located.
He was picked up in December 2014, after authorities linked the infections to his reuse of contaminated needles.
Aside the jail term, he has been fined a sum of five million riel (1,235 dollars), a court spokesman said.
The court spokesman, Toch Sopheaskdey, added: “This sends a clear message to the other doctors nationwide who are providing medical treatment without a licence to be aware.”
UNAIDS said at least 10 of the Roka villagers died from complications related to the HIV infection.
The government said it would establish a referral hospital in 2016, and has provided anti-retroviral drugs for them.
