The Hindu : We were insulted at government hospitals: HIV-infected women

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 20, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

We were insulted at government hospitals: HIV-infected women

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB. 19. In a three-hour face-to-face meeting with members of the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Government officials from various departments, women stigmatised because of their HIV positive status shared their experiences.

At the public hearing organised by Positive Women Network, a non-government organisation, women cried as they spoke. They were treated shabbily even by officials or left to suffer because they were infected.

They came from all over the State. Some of them were thrown out by their families, others were beaten up and refused property rights, many were denied financial assistance and struggled to bring up their children. Most of these women had lost their husband, the sole earning member in the family. All these women said they were insulted at the Government hospitals. They suffered ill-treatment at the hands of paramedics and sometimes, even doctors refused to treat them.

After the women had spoken, the former judge of the Madras High Court, J. Kanagaraj, called upon the officials to respond to the charges. Supriya Sahu, joint secretary, Health department told them that if treatment was denied in any State-run hospital then it must be brought to the Government's notice. K. Deenabandhu, project director of the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society, urged the women to approach the legal cell of the Society for redress.

He said the medical staff's behaviour could be due to ignorance, fear, lack of care or irresponsibility. It was proposed to have an HIV-infected person in the advisory committees in State-run hospitals to enable better service. If dissatisfied with services in State-run hospitals, they could seek treatment from private hospitals, which had been given Government grants for this purpose, he said.

A labour department official assured action against officers found to discriminate employees on the grounds that they were infected.

The joint director of the School Education, A. Shankar, said, the essential attendance of 75 per cent would be brought down to 40 per cent for `positive' children, even if they were in the higher secondary classes. Special classes would help them cope with the hours lost in school, he said.

Poornima Advani, Chairperson of the NCW, said, people, particularly the rural women, who suffered after the husband's death from infection and stigma - should be consulted while drafting policies.

One reason for the stigma could be the posters put up only in the clinics of doctors handling patients with sexually transmitted diseases. These posters targeted commercial sex workers during the early campaigns. Often women were denied treatment even in the preliminary stages because of the stigma attached to the disease, she said.

Mr. Kanakaraj said medical personnel must not explain away their refusal to treat patients by saying that they were afraid or unaware of treatment methods. "The doctors who refuse to treat patients should be punished."

He urged the women to file a public interest petition. More awareness campaigns and education about HIV and AIDS must be organised, he added.

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