YARDSTICK: Another death of pregnant woman with HIV is alarming
Saturday 7 April 2007
(World Health Day)
------------------

FOR MORE DETAILS OR GET INVOLVED WITH ADVOCACY, PLEASE EMAIL
jashodhara@...
------------------


"It is not only shocking that alarming levels of HIV associated
stigma and discrimination runs high in MP but also disappointing that
despite of repeated alerts sounded on rising maternal mortality in
the state, nothing much has improved"
------------------

By Bobby Ramakant



A 30-year-old pregnant woman who was living with HIV died outside the
hospital building in Indore (Madhya Pradesh state (MP), India) after
the government healthcare staff denied to provide adequate medical
care and hospital admission.

It is not only shocking that alarming levels of HIV associated stigma
and discrimination runs high in MP but also disappointing that
despite of repeated alerts sounded on rising maternal mortality in
the state, nothing much has improved.

Madhya Pradesh figures among the list of those Indian states where
maternal mortality is high, particularly in rural areas, where the
healthcare system is virtually non-existent and awareness on the
subject among the people extremely low.

According to UNICEF, Madhya Pradesh along with Assam and Uttar
Pradesh, has a high Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) of 700 or more per
100,000 live births as against the national figure of 407 per 100,000
live births as per the 2001 Census figures. However, regional
disparities in maternal mortality are wide with the death ratio being
low in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab and extremely high in most
northern states in India.

President of Madhya Pradesh Network of People living with HIV (MPNP+)
Manoj Verma said that on 3 April 2007, a 30-year-old pregnant woman
who was living with HIV, died outside MY Hospital after the
government healthcare staff refused to admit the patient. She was
referred from Bhuranpur, Nehru Hospital, village Gambhirpura on 31
March 2007.

After the preliminary examination, she was referred and was taken to
the ward for admission. But when the doctors came to know of her HIV
positive status, they intentionally discharged the patient despite of
the fact that she was in labor pains. But the doctors blatantly
refused to admit her. While the patient came from the fifth floor of
the hospital and reached the compound, she delivered the baby girl
near the water tank of the MY Hospital. The relatives again tried to
approach the healthcare staff to re-admit her but the security guards
refused their entry into the hospital building.

As her condition was critical on 2 April 2007 she was brought to the
MY Hospital at 9.30 am and fortunately got hospital admission, but
was not fortunate enough to get proper medical attention. On 3 April
2007, her condition worsened, with no doctors to attend to her and
she succumbed owing to severe medical negligence during and after
child birth. She belonged to 'Banjaran' backward class and had five
children.

MPNP+ President Manoj called the collector of Indore who asked him to
register an FIR (first Information Report) at the nearest police
station. However the nearest Sayogitha Gunj police station refused to
lodge an FIR.

"I am shocked to hear of the blatant discrimination against a
pregnant HIV+ woman in the hospital in Indore. This is even more so
because right now there is a huge campaign by UNICEF and others to
work on maternal health issues in MP" said India's noted women's
health rights activist Jashodhara Dasgupta of SAHAYOG
(www.sahayogindia.org).

Many reports reveal the extent to which people are stigmatised and
discriminated against by health care systems in India. Many studies
reveal the reality of withheld treatment, non-attendance of hospital
staff to patients, HIV testing without consent, lack of
confidentiality and denial of hospital facilities and medicines.

Fear of discrimination often prevents people living with HIV from
seeking existing healthcare services. Perhaps the most conspicuous
context for HIV/AIDS-related discrimination, stigmatization, and
denial is the health care sector in India, whether public or private.
Many infected people trace some of their AIDS-related fear, anxiety,
and denial to their traumatic experiences in health care settings.

Health activists in India stress on the dire need to frame strategies
to address women's health care, including HIV vulnerabilities, in the
context of rights. The issues they seek to resolve include
confidentiality, partner notification, and free and informed consent —
all difficult issues for women who risk violence and neglect if
their HIV status is disclosed. Without increasing gender sensitivity
among health planners, healthcare workers, policymakers, judiciary,
and other stakeholders, the high rates of maternal mortality fuelled
with HIV associated stigma are unlikely to come down.

Bobby Ramakant, author is a senior health and development journalist,
writing for newspapers in Asia and Africa.

---------------------


Also published in: (7 April 2007)

- Asian Tribune (Sri Lanka and Thailand)
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/5237

- Scoop Independent News (New Zealand)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0704/S00125.htm

- The Seoul Times (South Korea)
http://www.theseoultimes.com/ST/db/read.php?idx=5099