No medical treatment for Bihar's HIV+ woman

Once diagnosed as HIV+, no hospital in Patna is willing to admit 30-year old Meena (name changed), who is writhing in pain for a perforated wound in her right thigh.

Once diagnosed as HIV+, no hospital in Patna is willing to admit 30-year-old Meena (name changed), who is writhing in pain for a perforated wound in her right thigh.

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Turned down by all in Bihar's capital, the mother of two small children was carried back to her village, Mugila, in Paliganj, approximately 80 km from Patna.

"I don't know not what to do," laments her husband Ram Uday Sharma, a small time shopkeeper. "No doctor, not even in the Patna Medical College Hospital, is ready to bandage my wife's wound," he says, with tears in his eyes.

However, the superintendent of the PMCH Dr O P Choudhary contested Sharma's version. "Yes, we refused to admit the patient, but we never refused to treat her," he said. "As the patient was not that serious to be admitted, we advised her to receive the treatment in the outdoor of the surgical ward and go home," he explained.

Notwithstanding what the superintendent said, Reena Devi's case is really pathetic. She had to spend nights on the footpaths of Patna awaiting admission in any hospital, government or private.

Finally, she was carried home on Wednesday morning, when her attendants lost all hopes.

Till August 10, Reena Devi was healthy and was receiving normal treatment. Her problem began, when a tiny wound developed on her thigh, which soon aggravated and became painful.

For two-three days, she was treated by a local homeopathic dortor but when she did not get any relief, she was carried to an allopathic doctor in Jehanabad, where a small incision was made in her wound to drain out the accumulated push.

When Reena had no relief, her husband brought her to Patna consulted a doctor, who after diagnosing her as HIV+, referred to the PMCH.

"I am negative but I don't know HIV status of my children," said crestfallen Sharma.

Rena Devi's case is not a solitary one. There are many like her, who are dying in absence of treatment, said Gyan Ranjan, president of the Patna Network For People Living With HIV/AIDS Society.