Intended for healthcare professionals

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News

Indian hospital’s insensitive treatment of woman with HIV is condemned

BMJ 2015; 351 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h3617 (Published 02 July 2015) Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h3617

Rapid Response:

Re: Indian hospital’s insensitive treatment of woman with HIV is condemned

AIDS awareness and sex education have been undertaken by the government as well as non-governmental organizations to educate as well as to protect the HIV patient from social ostracism.

In many places the common man and the community label AIDS as evil and even sex education is a matter to be treated with confidentiality. Social taboos like these always hamper as well as affect the human dignity of a patient. Particularly such insensitivity from a hospital to a pregnant woman is appalling. Eugenics is an area that haunted the minds of many liberated minds and did bring about discrimination and disgrace even by elite scientists and doctors.

When AIDS affects a poor patient, apart from the poverty pathogen the social vector brings a social stigma that defies human dignity, and Reverence for Life stands mocked.

Competing interests: No competing interests

06 July 2015
Dhastagir S Sheriff
Professor
Melmaruvathur Adhi Parasakthi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research
Melmaruvathur