November 19, 2007

HIV-Positive Indian Women Face Stigma at Clinics

Some HIV-positive women in India who seek treatment at local government hospitals say they’ve suffered verbal abuse from hospital personnel; others claim they have been forced to have abortions if they are pregnant (topnews.in, 11/19).

“At some of these centers, women are being made to undergo forced abortions even in advanced stages of pregnancy when the national guidelines issued by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) clearly state that bearing a child should be entirely the mother’s choice,” said one woman from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The women say that medical staff and nurses need better HIV/AIDS training to provide appropriate care those who are infected. Malini Bhattacharya, a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) said, “The government needs to look into these complaints seriously to provide succor to these women.”

There are about 60,000 new HIV infections in India each year.