CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Nearly 400 children who Libyan authorities say were intentionally infected with the virus that causes AIDS are now being treated in European hospitals, French and Italian officials said Thursday.
French foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said he hoped the move would improve relations with Libya as a court there deliberates on the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor charged with infecting the children in the city of Benghazi in the 1990s. The prosecution of the case has drawn international criticism.
The nurses and doctor, held in Libya since 1999, were sentenced to death in 2004, but Libya's supreme court ordered a retrial after international protests that the proceedings had been unfair. The defendants denied the charges, saying they had been tortured to extract confessions.
Europe, the United States, and human rights groups accused Libya of concocting the charges to cover up poor hygiene conditions at its hospitals, which many blame for the infections.
Mattei expressed hope that treating the children in European hospitals ''can contribute to creating among the families and Libyan public opinion a climate more favorable to a solution in the case...that conforms to the expectations of the international community.''
Some 150 of the children are in French hospitals in Paris, Toulouse, Montpellier, and Strasbourg, and Libya is paying for the treatment, he said. More than 100 are being treated at Rome hospitals, and 60 have been at the Meyer pediatric hospital in Florence since September, said Maria Jose Caldes, an official at the hospital in Florence. It was not immediately clear where the others were being treated.
Caldes said the children in Florence are ''in quite good condition'' and are being treated with antiretroviral drugs, a cocktail of medicines that helps manage immunity-debilitating effects in AIDS patients.
The children are accompanied by their parents and three Libyan doctors and are staying in Florence and nearby cities. Italian doctors believe most will be able to return to Libya by mid December.
''The children have to go home, they have to go to school, [and] they have to lead their lives,'' said Caldes. ''Only the more serious cases will stay here longer.'' (AP)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
George Santos's latest money-making plot? Reviving his drag persona, Kitara Ravache
April 29 2024 5:12 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedHow did the Biden administration just make health care fairer for LGBTQ+ people?
April 29 2024 1:54 PM
Candace Parker, queer WNBA legend, is retiring 'privately with the ones I love'
April 29 2024 12:42 PM
Tennessee parents beg judge not to release school shooter’s journals publicly
April 29 2024 11:58 AM
12 photos exploring the lives of Thailand’s Ladyboy community
April 29 2024 11:55 AM
Parent arrested as Ryan Walters called 'bully and bigot' at Oklahoma meeting
April 29 2024 10:15 AM