MALKANGIRI: An incident of discrimination against HIV AIDS patients came to the fore after an HIV positive pregnant woman alleged that she was denied admission at Kudmulgumma community health centre (CHC) for delivery on Saturday. She was referred to the district headquarters hospital (DHH).
Sources said, the pregnant woman of Parkanmala village in Kudmulgumma panchayat under Khairput block was rushed to the CHC (around 55 km from the village) after she complained of labour pain. But she was denied service after the hospital authorities came to know that she was an HIV patient. She was then referred to the district headquarters hospital (DHH) and allegedly not provided ambulance, alleged family members. Helpless, the woman was taken home on a bike where she gave birth to a baby girl.
Denying the allegations made by the family members, chief district medical officer Praful Kumar Nanda said the woman was provided with an ambulance to take her to the DHH. “The ambulance waited for 15 minutes but the family members were unwilling to take her there and decided to take her home instead,” added Nanda. The mother and child were, however, admitted to the DHH on Tuesday for further treatment.