THERE are about 10,000 transgender persons in Pakistan, with highest number of them being based in Punjab, followed by Sindh and other provinces. They are probably the most discriminated people on Earth for no fault of their own. Most of them have been abandoned by their families and they live in a social structure weaved together by themselves.

Most of them are poorly educated and, therefore, their source of income is limited to beggary and traditional wedding dances. They are subjected to gross misbehaviour, and to earn a living many of them fall into the trap of becoming what is generally referred to as sex workers. This has its own consequences.

Hepatitis A spreads via faecal-oral contact. A microscopic amount of virus-laden stuff has the potential to cause an infection.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is 50-100 times more transmittable than the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

They have no access to proper medical facilities whether hospitals or clinics. As such, critical facilities, like immunisation, are out of the equation. Many NGOs are working to actively immunise the general population, but even they leave alone the transgender community. The government and NGOs should actively immunise them and save human lives.

Dr Asghar Naqvi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2022