Libyan HIV Medics freed
I hope you remember my earlier posts on Libyan HIV Medics who were convicted of infecting more than 400 children with HIV infected blood at a hospital in Libya.
Their eight year ordeal ended on Tuesday when they were freed and flew back to the Bulgarian capital Sofia. This came after a partnership deal between Tripoli and the European Union. Upon their arrival in Sofia, the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov pardoned the five nurses and the Palestinian doctor who recently took Bulgarian citizenship.
The families of the infected children have been paid compensation. According to the Gadhafi Foundation, run by Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, and which has been involved in mediating the crisis, the compensation amounts to about $1 million per child. This has been jointly funded by EU, Bulgaria and Libya.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy stole the show as he mediated the deal in spite of the controversial inclusion of Cecilia Sarkozy in the negotiations at last minute.
Finally “Itz a great news” as said by Vittorio Colizzi, an AIDS researcher at Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy, who campaigned for scientific evidence exonerating the medical workers to be considered by the Libyan courts. "But we must not forget the children," he adds, pointing out that the 1998 outbreak was a double tragedy — for the six unjustly imprisoned, and for the infected children and families. (Via Declan Butler, Nature)
Seeji, Pharm House
Realated posts:
Libya's HIV Medics
Libya: HIV Medics sentenced to death
Their eight year ordeal ended on Tuesday when they were freed and flew back to the Bulgarian capital Sofia. This came after a partnership deal between Tripoli and the European Union. Upon their arrival in Sofia, the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov pardoned the five nurses and the Palestinian doctor who recently took Bulgarian citizenship.
The families of the infected children have been paid compensation. According to the Gadhafi Foundation, run by Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, and which has been involved in mediating the crisis, the compensation amounts to about $1 million per child. This has been jointly funded by EU, Bulgaria and Libya.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy stole the show as he mediated the deal in spite of the controversial inclusion of Cecilia Sarkozy in the negotiations at last minute.
Finally “Itz a great news” as said by Vittorio Colizzi, an AIDS researcher at Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy, who campaigned for scientific evidence exonerating the medical workers to be considered by the Libyan courts. "But we must not forget the children," he adds, pointing out that the 1998 outbreak was a double tragedy — for the six unjustly imprisoned, and for the infected children and families. (Via Declan Butler, Nature)
Seeji, Pharm House
Realated posts:
Libya's HIV Medics
Libya: HIV Medics sentenced to death
Picture courtesy Nature