NEW DELHI:
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday asked the Delhi government-run hospitals to test sexual assault survivors for HIV on their first visit.
The Commission also issued a notice to the Health Department seeking information about the number of cases in which HIV tests were conducted for the survivors and accused, as well as the SoPs in place to prevent transmission of HIV in survivors.
“According to the data received by the Commission, several hospitals did not recommend HIV tests to the survivors,” the DCW said in a statement.
“An eight-year-old girl was brutally raped in the capital. The accused who raped her was HIV positive. Unfortunately, the girl also contracted the virus. A strong and robust mechanism to ensure proper preventive care and treatment of sexual assault survivors for HIV is, therefore, the need of the hour,” said DCW chief Swati Maliwal
The Commission cited an example of Deep Chand Bandhu hospital, where, of the 180 medico-legal examinations conducted on survivors, HIV tests were done “in only a few cases”.
Hospitals like Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital and Rao Tula Ram hospital don’t even maintain data pertaining to HIV tests of rape survivors, the DCW said. It added that these two hospitals also did not conduct follow-up HIV testing and counselling, which is supposed to be done after three and six months of the first visit.
It also said that AIIMS, Rao Tula Ram hospital and Jag Pravesh Chandra hospital told the Commission that they did not have data available on follow-up tests for survivors.
The DCW also said that the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) functioned only from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., forcing many survivors to return the day after the incident for HIV tests.
Many hospitals did not maintain data on the administration of Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), the first line of defence against HIV, the DCW said.
It recommended that the government and the police ensure immediate preventive care and treatment of HIV for rape survivors.
