Denied therapy, HIV+ Naga man leaves Bangalore

After being allegedly denied anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for over two months by St John’s Hospital, a 30-year-old HIV+ engineering student left for his native town in Nagaland on Monday in search of effective treatment.

As the patient’s condition was deteriorating, the patient’s younger brother decided to take him to Nagaland for treatment. The student worked as a part-time music teacher in Bangalore for a year. The brothers reached their home town on Tuesday.

The hospital is said to have stone-walled the patient’s pleas for ART, after he tested positive for HIV in February.

“My brother’s condition is critical. We cannot wait any longer. So, we have decided to move the patient to Nagaland,” his brother told DNA before leaving Bangalore.

It’s a clear case of discrimination and denial of medical assistance to a HIV+ patient, alleged members of the Karnataka HIV Sonkithara Sangatane, an organisation working for Persons Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA). The organisation, which took up the case of the Naga student, also staged a protest in front of the hospital against its discriminatory attitude, last week.

“It’s sad that a HIV+ person had to leave the city because he was denied treatment,” rued Parveen Ahmed, a member of Karnataka HIV Sonkithara Sangatane. “Authorities should seriously investigate the matter, so that such an incident is not get repeated in future,” he added.

The denial of ART in time worsened the patient’s condition, the activists alleged. The right portion of the patient’s body became almost immovable. The student was diagnosed with HIV+ when he was under treatment at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans), in February. Doctors said that the patient used to do drugs and might have contracted the infection from a used needle.

He was later referred to St John’s Hospital for ART. St John’s Hospital is one of the four places where ART is provided free in Bangalore.

However, authorities at St John’s Hospital denied treatment on the pretext of counselling, alleged the brother.

“We agreed for counselling and furnished necessary documents including our current home address. But the doctors were not convinced. But the patient needs immediate ART,” said the brother, who stayed with the patient in a rented house in the city.

Standard ART consists of the use of at least three antiretroviral drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and prevent progression of the disease.
The HIV+ student’s brother also approached National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) to get immediate treatment to the patient at the hospital. Following this, NACO and KSAPS intervened and St John’s Hospital agreed to treat the patient. But the hospital insisted that the patient should first undergo counselling.

“Counselling will take long and by that time the patient’s condition would only have worsened further. The need of the hour is treatment. Counselling can start later,” Ahmed explained.