New Delhi group shares 2 case studies of HIV discrimination
Repercussions can be severe
According to directors with MAMTA, the Health Institute for Mother and Child in New Delhi, India, HIV stigma and discrimination can have severe social and health consequences for those who are infected.
Here are two examples of what might occur when health care professionals learn of a person’s HIV status:
• Case study one: A woman who sought help from Child Survival India (CSI) of Delhi describes what has happened to her: "I am an HIV-positive pregnant woman. Both my husband and me are HIV-positive. We both love and trust each other so much that we can never think of doing any high-risk behavior. Five months back, my husband gave blood to my father-in-law during an operation. At that time, his blood was tested as HIV-negative. In the meantime, I went through an infertility treatment since I did not conceive since my marriage. After a few months of treatment, I conceived naturally. Now I am six months pregnant. I went for delivery registration to many private hospitals who refused to take me because of my HIV status. Then I approached CSI through my counselor. The director in CSI had a friend working as a doctor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AHMS), New Delhi, one of the premiere institutions in the subcontinent. Most of the doctors working at AHMS refused to register me for delivery. I really don’t know what to do now." At eight months of pregnancy, the woman still was unable to register with any private or government hospitals for delivery, and The Lawyer’s Collective, Delhi, had planned to take up the case to be fought in court.
• Case study two: One of MAMTA’s clients had to be hospitalized in the middle of the night. He was taken to the emergency ward at Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, with a severe breathing problem. As one doctor was pumping his heart, other doctors were looking through his case papers, when suddenly they discovered that he was infected with HIV. According to MAMTA, the doctors started screaming, and the doctor who had been pumping his heart jumped away from the patient. The doctors scolded the people attending the patient and refused to touch him after discovering his HIV status. Within an hour, the patient had died.
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