Disturbing Stories from hospitals continues

[Guest guest]

Two Disturbing Stories

Jun 11, 2009

The best efforts and mechanisms of NACO, state and district AIDS Control

Societies and various NGOs are clearly not being enough to deal with the

insensitivity and discrimination that HIV-positive patients continue to be

subjected to in various Indian hospitals.

It is still not uncommon to hear about Indian hospitals refusing to admit or

treat HIV patients in gross violation of a Supreme Court order— stating that

doctors in Government and private hospitals should not refuse treatment to

People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA).

In a shocking incident last month in Swaroop Rani Nehru hospital, a state-owned

hospital in Allahabad, the hospital staff not only refused to treat a

HIV-positive patient but in a dastardly act pasted an 'HIV' sign on the wall

behind the bed of the HIV patient (admitted in surgical emergency ward).

The hospital had earlier relented to admit the patient only after the Allahabad

Network for People Living with HIV Positive (ANP Plus) took up the matter with

the district magistrate.

Even as the HIV sign was removed after intervention from ANP Plus, the

hospital's apathy and cruelty did not stop. The staff then wrote `ART'

(Anti-retroviral Therapy) on the wall and tied a red ribbon, indicating NACO and

thus HIV patient, on the drip stand.

The doctors also refused to treat the patient, stating proper medical kits were

not available in the hospital. According to NACO and WHO guidelines, every

hospital has to have a basic protective kit for doctors for treating HIV

positive patients. The hospital management had later informed that medical kit

was available.

In the same state, around two years back, two doctors of Lala Lajpat Rai

Memorial Medical College, Meerut, were suspended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister

Mayawati because of denying to assist in the delivery of a HIV-positive woman.

Instead, the doctors had asked the patient's husband to deliver the baby. From

the Allahabad hospital, however, there has been no news of any action against

the insensitive staff.

From a case of insensitivity to a case of grave error— the damage done to a

patient is no less. In another incident in Mumbai last month, an Integrated

Centre for Testing and Counselling (ICTC) issued a false HIV-positive report to

a pregnant woman. When the couple did the test in a private lab, the test showed

negative result. But the damage was done— the lady underwent stress-induced

miscarriage of her seven-week-old foetus.

According to experts, the laboratory should have done the screening test with

two different kits and if the diagnosis was positive with both, then the

laboratory should have suggested reconfirmation with and Western Blot. The

ICTC did no perform more than a single test for a person from a low risk group.

With 90 lab technicians and 120 counsellors across 74 ICTC centers in Mumbai, it

is shameful that such an incident has occurred— causing such irreparable damage.

Though it is commendable that the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS)

had acknowledged the mistake, deemed it 'inexcusable' and taken immediate

punitive action by issuing memos and transferring the two employees behind the

error, it is not enough.

In a PIL filed last year, it was alleged that NACO has used sub-standard HIV

kits in second national AIDS control programme— posing a potential danger of

transmitting HIV to unsuspecting patients through blood transfusion. So, there

is a need to check the quality of the kits.

There is also an urgent need to ramp up awareness campaigns to educate and

sensitise the medical fraternity and hospital staff in dealing with HIV

patients. If explaining does not work, then action stricter than mere suspension

of staff needs to be taken. We also need to ensure that HIV kits are available

across all hospitals and health centres.

Rita Dutta

rita.dutta@...

http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/200906/edit01.shtml