HYDERABAD: An HIV-positive transgender person died on Saturday night in the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) for want of, what her colleagues claimed, ‘timely attention’ by the hospital administration.

According to transgender rights activist Sana Khan, Nirma, 24, was admitted to the LUH in Jamshoro last week for a surgery as she had some wound on her hip. She said the wound developed some infection but doctors did not allow the surgical procedure and she was discharged.

Sana said that Nirma had been an HIV-positive patient for the last four years and after remaining at home for the last couple of days, her condition deteriorated. “We shifted her to the LUH city branch on Saturday where doctors didn’t pay attention to her and she died in medical unit-II,” she claimed.

She said Nirma needed intensive care unit (ICU) where bed was not available for her. According to Mariam, a transgender community leader, doctors said that since she was an HIV-positive patient, they would not touch her. “It is a case of sheer gender discrimination,” she alleged.

LUH Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Dr Faizan said an ICU bed was arranged for the patient and it was allotted to her.

Dr Faizan also explained that patient was in a state of gasping when received at the casualty department at around 6.30pm on Saturday with complaint of abscess. “The patient was taking hormonal therapy [for breast development] and abscess was developed in gluteal region due to administration of wrong injections.

He said that she was also an HIV-positive and was given emergency treatment at casualty ward before being referred to medicine unit. He said that at around 10:30pm, one bed had fallen vacant in the ICU at LUH, Jamshoro, and her attendants were advised to move to Jamshoro. However, he said, they initially refused and agreed to move only after one hour of counselling.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024