THE HIV was first detected in India in 1986 and by 2006 a lot of myths about it have been removed.
Yet the medical fraternity in the private sector doesn’t seem out of the misconceptions and even appears unprepared to help such patients. Though it is possible.
An example came to light in the State Capital where an HIV positive patient from a highly vulnerable group of truck drivers had to run from pillar to post to save his life from Scrotal Abscess – a sort of gangrene – and is still struggling with it on a bed at King George’s Medical University.
The patient Subhas (name changed) is a resident of Sultanpur district and was a truck driver by profession and travelled on the route between Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. “I got tuberculosis some 5 years back. The doctor prescribed me for a HIV test and the reports declared me positive. I took treatment for TB but ignored the other disease,” the patient narrated to the doctors at KGMU.
When he developed gangrene in his scrotal area, he was advised to get the problematic scrotal area removed at some well-equipped hospital.
{{/usCountry}}When he developed gangrene in his scrotal area, he was advised to get the problematic scrotal area removed at some well-equipped hospital.
{{/usCountry}}On the advise from the doctors of the government primary health clinic, he went to some private nursing homes of his district and also came to several hospital in the State Capital but only to get refusal.
His fault was that he innocently told them about his HIV positive status. The delay in treatment turned the problem serious to an extent where he could have died of the gangrene. “When the patient was turned away from several private hospitals some one suggested him for KGMU and we admitted him as an out-door patient for the surgery,” said one of the operating surgeons of the general surgery department at the medical university. The condition of Subhas was stated to be critical on Monday but doctors hope he would revive.
The only worry for the treating doctors is that he ignored treatment for HIV even after knowing the consequences and its five years of ignorance. The patient is not aware of his health situation and the AIDS status either for last couple of years.
Ironically, the Indian Medical Association in Lucknow has organised several sessions of HIV treatment training for doctors under the Bill Gates Foundation but the training, it seems, could not make an impact.