A
Test Of Nerves
By
Neha Dixit
19 December,
2007
Countercurrents.org
AISA
KYA KIYA ki test karane chali aayi? (What have you done that you’ve
come for a test?),” the receptionist asks with a big grin on her
face. “Kuch nahin, kai baar blood donate kiya tha. (Nothing, I
donated blood several times.)” “Aajkal syringe se to hota
nahi hai. Boyfriend hai tumhara? (It doesn’t happen with syringes
these days. Do you have a boyfriend?)”
As filmstars
and celebrities urge everybody to fight the stigma of AIDS, and hoardings
sprout at every nukkad saying, “Jab ho HIV avastha ka gyaan, to
bani rahe muskaan (When HIV status is known, the smile holds its own)”,
a simple HIV test remains out of reach of ordinary Indians. Posing as
college students, we visited a number of government and private hospitals
in New Delhi to get an HIV test done. We found that not only were basic
facilities absent in most hospitals, prejudices against those seeking
an HIV test began right inside the hospital premises. To start with,
all hospitals are required under law to have an HIV counselling centre.
But such
centres, where they exist, have been relegated to some remote corner
of the hospital campus and were functional for just fits and starts.
The HIV counselling centre at the Safdarjung Hospital is located at
an isolated spot on the fifth floor, while at the Maulana Azad Medical
College (MAMC), even the Delhi Medical Council does not know if an HIV
centre is there. Similarly in GB Pant Hospital, LNJP Hospital, Holy
Family Hospital and also at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS), receptionists were clueless about the presence of such a centre.
Dr Ajay Khera, Joint Director of Basic Sevices and Surveillance Division,
National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), says: “We can’t
keep a check on each and every centre in the country. It is the responsibility
of the Delhi State AIDS Control Society to make sure that the centres
in each hospital are easily accessible.”
While the
fee for an HIV test in government hospitals is Rs 10, at private hospitals
it is Rs 300 on an average. But most government centres are open only
till 12 noon. The HIV centre at Safdarjung Hospital is closed most of
the time. The guard there says, “It opens twice a week. Sometimes
not even that.” A patient waiting outside for his report says,
“For the past three days I have been coming here. But the centre
hasn’t opened all these days.” Even though repeatedly contacted
by TEHELKA, Dr Sudhir Chandra, Additional Medical Superintendent, Safdarjung
Hospital, was not available for comment.
EVEN WHEN
one manages to reach a centre, the troubles have only begun. A pretest
counselling session is advised so as a person does not feel traumatised
if the result is positive. The session itself is a traumatic experience.
Firstly, the so-called counsellors just can’t stop smiling. Even
though the government campaign says people in the age group of 15-29
are under highest risk, it is scandalising for the counsellors to find
a young, unmarried girl walk in without a doctor’s prescription
for an HIV test. While the counsellor at MAMC hints he suspects you
to be a prostitute, the one at AIIMS wants to know, “How sexually
active are you?” The counsellor at the LNJP Hospital was outraged
by the fact that one had walked in with a man. “How do you know
him when he is from some other college?” he demanded to know.
A person
taking an HIV test has the right to informed consent and confidentiality.
Unfortunately, both government and private hospitals fail to guarantee
anonymity. A TEHELKA photographer could walk in, take pictures and walk
out without a check. Dr Y. Pandey, Acting Medical Superintendent at
the Holy Family Hospital, argues, “Even though the pictures were
clicked, the report still remains confidential. However, we need to
check what rules are being followed at our pathology.”
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