Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - December 1, 2003
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul
But their fates became intertwined after their children were infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, allegedly while being treated at state hospitals.
The families yesterday teamed up to call on the Public Health Ministry to take responsibility for medical mistakes that have so far killed two of the children.
They have asked the Centre for Aids Rights to lodge a complaint with the Administrative Court demanding the ministry and the hospitals pay compensation of five million baht to each family.
Mr Cheewin said his only daughter Wanicha was diagnosed as HIV-positive after she was admitted to the provincial hospital in Ayutthaya with pneumonia two years ago. She died last year at the age of six.
"Although my daughter has passed away, I still want to fight for her rights and learn why she picked up the disease," he said.
He and his wife were healthy, so she did not get the disease from them.
Mrs Prapai believed her daughter Sarinya was infected after spending years visiting the district hospital in Sa Kaeo for treatment for thalassaemia, a blood disorder, where she received blood transfusions.
A doctor told her that Sarinya had been infected with the virus for four years. The hospital denied responsibility, claiming blood donors were screened.
"When her symptoms became critical we knew our daughter was HIV-positive," she said.
The mother of three said her daughter lost her sight before dying last year.
Wisut Songsakulchai said the Public Health Ministry's Medical Department had ignored his complaints, and relatives shunned his family after learning his five-year-old son was HIV-positive.
"It hurts when you get a cold reaction not just from the authority but relatives who express no understanding," he said in tears.
Mr Wisut believed his son was infected with the virus when he was treated at Children's Hospital for pneumonia last year. He did not reveal his son's name as it would hurt other family members.
Centre of Aids Rights manager Supatra Nakapeuw said she would talk to the Justice Ministry's Rights and Liberties Protection Department about the cases.
She said it was unfair that the Administrative Court demand court fees from the poor that were equivalent to 2.5% of the compensation requested.
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