Re: Sahar Airport: Returing PLWHAs detained; denied food,medicine, care

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

My self and Ms. Shabana P. visited the Yellow Fever Hospital at around 09.00

am and were very stunned on seeing that the hospital was been locked, as if

it was the jail.

The hospital is in such a place that there are so many mosquito that if the

person is not having any disease can get the disease like malaria, dengue

from that area and also if any other passenger who has been quarantine for

having yellow fever kept in the same place can get that through the

mosquito.

The six people in total (Mumbai 02, Pune 01, Kerla 01, Calcutta 01 and

Manipur 01) were been quarantine for not taking the yellow fever

certificate. Of which two were been given the certificate from their

respective state doctor. For Kerla participant given by " Kerla State AIDS

Control Society " Asst. Director of Health Services (AIDS) Dr. M.

Prasannakumar, MD whose Medical Reg. no is 6600 and for the Manipur

participant by the Doctor From one of the Hospital of Manipur by the Name of

" Health Services, Manipur J.N.Hospital, Imphal " Dr's K. Priyokumar Singh.

" Both the certificate clearly mentioned that, the Mr. XY is suffering from

the Human Immune Deficiency virus infection. He has suppressed immunity and

as such cannot take yellow fever vaccination. Hence the requirement for

Yellow Fever Vaccination may be waived in his case.

The Airport Authority has not recognized even this certificate and even the

Doctor recruited by them at the emigration counter.

During our visit we found Dr. Kulkarni Deputy Director from MSACS also

visited to the hospital to see the positive people as it was found that the

communication with MSACS Project Director has already been conducted and the

positive people were been looking for as what will be the action that the

government will take to support the positive people who may not die with

HIV/AIDS but due to the stigma and discrimination that they have to face at

all level.

Further on my talk to the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society Project

Director he promised that he will be looking to the matter and will try to

provide food to the six people in the hospital for their remaining days in

the hospital.

Dr. Subhash Salunke Director DHS has been informed about the matter so as we

can get the action for the same at the earliest and is waiting for the same.

Even Deputy Director Dr. Vasvani of the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society

has also been briefed about the following.

The Lawyers Collective has also been briefed about the same.

Issues

a) No food provision to People Living with HIV/AIDS.

No medicine to PLHA who are on continue treatment and few have only taken

medicine for the day of their transit-travel as they have thought that they

may reach on time to their destination and may continue their medicine but

have to stay without medicine now and have to fell sick more that may lead

to them to quarantine for the next extra few days which is not good.

c) One Female has been kept in the same room with the other two male

passengers of the same group.

d) Bribe of $100 have been asked on not producing the Yellow Fever

certificate and those who have given the bribe have been left without that

certificate and those who are unable to pay the bribe have been detained in

the quarantine at the Yellow Fever hospital of those 15 participant. Rest

passenger is the question mark.

e) Transit passengers airlines were not informed to cancel/postponed their

tickets (of this 6 passenger), which The Emigration officer and Dr.Prakash

Gaikwad assured that they will do, that would have lead to rebook the air

ticket for their next flight to their destination to this passengers on

their own it was at the last movement that one of the passenger (+ve person)

called up to the Jet airways and has done on it own.

f) The Kerla participant and the B/Member of CPK+ who had the railway ticket

for Kanyakumari Exp. boarding CSTM (VT) today at 15.35 hrs have to cancel

his trip to his home town without cancellation of the train ticket which he

has to further bare the expenditure to rebook the ticket.

g) Of the total 15 participant who returned from the conference, half of

them were detained for not taking the yellow fever vaccination and were

quarantined in the Yellow Fever hospital at Sahar.

h) At the Airport the staffs were not sensitize for HIV/AIDS and were

laughing and passing comment toward this conference team. That show that the

awareness program has not been done at the Airport area or for the Airport

staff and may like to request the concern authorities to take the

sensitization program in such places where positive people are most often

using the place to travel abroad.

i) PLHA those who are travelling should know this that how important the

Yellow Fever Certificate and should not neglect while going to such zone and

should take such vaccine at least 10 days prior coming from such zone.

j) We need inquiry in this matter as how many passenger have travel from the

Yellow Fever Zone and how many passenger have shown the Yellow Fever

Certificate as there may be some documentation at the Airport Authority of

India's (AAI) Emigration counter that they might have kept.

k) We need action on the people who are harassing to the passenger, as such

thing should not happen further with the positive people and with the

general community as even the Yellow fever epidemic is dangerous and if it

is compulsory it should be done for all and not be kept loose that on giving

bribe the passenger should be left.

l) We believe to take action on Dr. Prakash Gaikwad who has been rude and

arrogant to the positive people and was not showing any support towards

these six people.

Rajendra A. Shirke (Romy)

NMP+ Vice-President

E-mail: nmpplus@...