‘Discrimination, denial of treatment to HIV patients a punishable crime’

Discrimination against and denial of treatment to people with HIV is a punishable crime under the ‘Prohibition of Discrimination Based on HIV Status’ law, and those found indulged in this practice can be fined upto Rs2 million along with other disciplinary actions, the Sindh health department said in a warning to healthcare managers in the province on Monday.

“It has been reported that most of the people with HIV are being denied treatment and refused admissions to public health facilities in Sindh because of their HIV positive status,” Sindh Additional Director Communicable Disease Control (HIV/AIDS) Dr Ershad Kazmi said in a letter to all medical superintendents and district health officers (DHOs) in the province.

He maintained that people with HIV were facing challenges in getting proper medical treatment at public health facilities, but it was the responsibility of the healthcare managers, including medical superintendents, medical directors and DHOs, to ensure that HIV positive people were accepted without any stigma and discrimination and that they were provided the desired medical treatment.

“It is worth mentioning that people living with HIV (PLHIV) deserved to be treated with respect, professionalism and empathy by all healthcare providers at health facilities,” Dr Kazmi said and warned that discrimination on the basis of HIV status and denying admission, treatment and surgery to any PLHIV was illegal and punishable under the law.

“Penalties for discrimination range from rupees fifty thousand to two million,” he said and hoped that in future, people living with HIV would be treated with compassion, respect, professionalism and empathy.

Earlier in their meeting with CDC (HIV/AIDS) officials in Karachi, incharges of HIV treatment centres from across Sindh had complained that people who had HIV and AIDS, especially women, were often denied admission to hospitals, including emergency wards, making them reluctant to seek treatment at public tertiary care facilities in Karachi and the rest of the province.

“An HIV-infected woman, who was pregnant after three miscarriages, was subjected to humiliation, and derogatory remarks were passed on her being pregnant at the gynaecology ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi. She was so upset that her family took her to a private health facility for delivery. This case was highlighted on international level and caused immense humiliation for the country,” an HIV treatment centre had told a meeting earlier.

Dr Kazmi said issues related to access to health care for the people living with HIV had emerged during the meeting where incharges of the HIV treatment centres and other officials said people infected with HIV often faced discrimination and there were cases where they were denied treatment at tertiary-care treatment facilities.

“Either they [HIV-infected people] are not admitted to wards or they are subjected to humiliation for being infected with HIV. In most of the cases, people on the top, including medical superintendents, doctors, nurses and paramedics, discriminate against them, which is quite alarming,” Dr Kazmi said.

He added that the situation was worst at the gynaecological wards of the public hospitals where HIV-infected women were even denied treatment. He called for training the healthcare providers so that they did not discriminate on the grounds of any disease. Dr Kazmi maintained that in order to reduce the sufferings of such patients, he had proposed establishment of HIV treatment centres where male, female and children infected with HIV could be provided all the treatment and diagnostic facilities under one roof.