It has been a decade since a tragic case of medical malpractice rocked the Kingdom. In December 2014, several cases of HIV infection were detected in Roka commune, in Battambang province’s Sangke district.

Following extensive testing of more than 2,000 individuals, it was determined that 242 people aged from 2 to 89 years of age were HIV positive. Their common link was a man named Yem Chren, who ran an unlicensed medical clinic and was found to have reused the same syringes and needles on hundreds of patients.

He was arrested in December 2014 and eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay millions of riel in compensation. 

Since the scandal erupted, more than 50 people living with HIV in Roka have passed away. The last recorded death was a man in his 60s who passed away in April.

The majority of the surviving victims are women, said Roka commune chief Sim Pov.

At present, she said, the commune is home to 260 people who are living with HIV, although she noted that several people have moved to the commune, so she could not be certain they were all tied to the original outbreak.

“Most of the patients who have died so far were elderly people. Most people take antiretroviral medicine, which protects their immune systems and keeps them healthy. If they do not take them regularly, they will develop serious health problems,” she added.

She explained that every month, each of them must visit the Roka Referral Hospital to collect their prescription in person. They cannot appoint someone else to pick them up, because there are concerns that they may not take the drugs or have regular checkups.

Director of the Referral Hospital Eng Samnang declined to comment, claiming that he was travelling on May 31. 

The majority of those living with HIV work locally as farmers, construction workers, grocers or housekeepers. Because they must return to obtain their medication each month, they cannot find work further afield, or migrate to Thailand, like so many of their compatriots.

Via equity cards, each of them receives financial support from the government, in addition to charitable donations of rice and other foodstuffs, added Pov.

She noted that as the years have passed, discrimination against the commune has almost completely disappeared. 

Nowadays, the people in the community lead perfectly normal work and social lives, in contrast to the way they were treated when the initial outbreak occurred.

“The most discrimination happened between late 2014 and 2015. The commune was so quiet at the time. When outsiders saw me, they called me the ‘chief of the AIDS commune’,” said Pov.

“I told them to learn how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and not to be afraid to do simple things like sharing a meal. Nowadays, such discrimination has ended,” she added.

She also noted that the daughter and several relatives of former “clinic” owner Chren still live in the commune, but people are not angry with them.

In addition to HIV-related medical measures, she offers regular health reminders to the residents of the commune, including hygiene tips, lessons on the importance of regular exercise and reminders about the use of condoms.

Pov added that several villagers had gotten married since contracting the virus.

“They consulted with specialists before making the decision to have children, and were taught how to reduce the risk of transmission to their infants. It worked for some of them,” she said.

Chren appealed his sentence to the highest court in the land, with the Supreme Court upholding his 25-year term in October 2019.