The Government General Hospital at Sirsa in Haryana recently declared a pregnant woman — under its treatment for the last six months — HIV positive and declined treatment to her when she was brought to the hospital following labour pains.
The hospital staff reportedly humiliated the woman when her family members brought to their notice the fact that she had been getting pre-natal treatment at the same hospital for the last six months.
The family was constrained to shift her to a private hospital in the town on a motorcycle on June 24, as the hospital allegedly did not provide an ambulance even against payment. Subsequently, she delivered a baby boy at the private hospital, which declared that she was not HIV positive.
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of reports about the incident, while observing that it amounted to serious violation of human rights of the victim. It has issued a notice to the Haryana Chief Secretary calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.
According to reports, the civil surgeon in Sirsa has admitted that some blunder had been committed by the staff. The woman was brought to the hospital and somehow she tested positive in the Tridot test.
Even as her blood sample was being subjected to the ELISA test for confirming the result, someone in the staff told her family that she tested positive for the HIV, which resulted in chaos.
The family was constrained to shift her to a private hospital in the town on a motorcycle on June 24, as the hospital allegedly did not provide an ambulance even against payment