Mysore: Doctors denying treatment to HIV patients warned

September 5, 2006

Docs denying treatment to HIV patients warned

MYSORE, Sep 3: Health and Family Welfare Minister R Ashok said the

government would take action against doctors harassing and denying

treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. He said that the doctors should

treat HIV/AIDS patients with compassion.

Speaking after inaugurating the first anniversary of Ashodaya, a

community based organisation here on Friday, he said that there were

reports that a few doctors in North Karnataka had denied treatment

to HIV infected pregnant women.

He said that the government would spend Rs 40 crore on medicines,

health education and counselling for HIV patients and setting up

voluntary counselling and testing centres.

Disclosing the statistics of 5 lakh HIV patients in the State, he

said that the State had been put on high alert for its HIV

prevalence and most of cases had been reported in HIV infected area.

He said that callousness in dealing with dreaded diseases would pose

a threat to human resources in developing countries and would have

adverse effect on the over all development of society.

Ashok ridiculed a few quacks claiming to cure AIDS within 3 to 6

months medication and warned that the government would handle them

with an iron hand.

RECRUITMENT TO VCTCS: The State government will recruit counsellors,

lab technicians and doctors strengthen voluntary counselling and

testing centres for HIV/AIDS patients.

He said that the government will recruit 250 counsellors, 300 lab

technicians and 11 doctors and will start 182 combined centres and

22 more HIV/TB centres across the State.

Commending Ashodaya Samiti for checking human trafficking and

providing food at cheaper rates to sex workers, he said that it was

the responsibility of both public and NGOs to check spread diseases.

He said that the government was reaching out to sex workers through

NGOs as many of them face police and legal harassments.

He called upon the organisations and public to join hands to combat

the dreaded disease.

Newindpress

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