Pune: Special wards to set up at Sassoon and YCM Hospitals

A special unit for transgender patients will be established at the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune and the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital in Pimpri.

The wards are expected to open shortly, activists hope that if they are admitted in separate wards, they will not be bullied or humiliated.

Although the transgender community in India has gained legal recognition, still their access to decent healthcare remains disturbingly limited, according to a recent research.

According to an activist, discrimination in public hospitals discourages lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people from seeking care in the first place, and they only seek treatment in an emergency.

The 2016 Lancet focuses on the harassment, taunting, and humiliation that the community faced while seeking care in hospitals.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 went into effect in January 2020, prohibiting discrimination against transgender people and allowing them to be recognised as such.

Transgender activist Chandani Gore claims that instead of treating her illness, doctors frequently insult transgender people.

“There are no hospitals that have special wards for us, and when we are admitted, we are humiliated and abused.” Other patients and employees have made jokes about us in the past,” Gore added.

Another transgender activist, Sonali Dalvi, stated that people in her community who have HIV require medication and are compelled to go to official hospitals.

“Gender affirmation or sex reassignment operations require drugs even after surgery, yet we are harassed when we go to get them,” said Dalvi.

Dalvi added, “Because of the hefty costs, not everyone can afford treatment at private hospitals.”

Dr Rajendra Wable, Dean of Post Graduate Institute of YCM Hospital, said that the hospital would establish separate units for the transgender community.

“We have decided to hold training for nurses, ward boys, and doctors to sensitise them on how to behave while addressing transgender patients,” he stated. Punekar News