PRESS RELEASE
New Delhi, Dated: 6th July, 2015

The National Human Rights Commission, taking suo motu cognizance of a media report alleging doctors' apathy towards an AIDS patient in a hospital in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has issued notices to the Secretary, Department of Health, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Senior Superintendent of Police, Meerut calling for detailed reports within four weeks.

The Commission has observed that stigmatization, discrimination and denial on the basis of HIV/AIDS are anathema to human rights. The contents of the media report, if true, raise serious questions about the violation of human rights of the victim.

According to the media report, the doctors at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh not only openly declared an expecting mother as an AIDS patient by pasting a big piece of paper on her bed that screamed 'Bio Hazard +ve' but also made her to clean her medical waste. A senior doctor also abused the woman for 'bringing another deceased child into the world'. The woman, aged 30 years, was admitted to the hospital for a caesarian delivery on the 19th June, 2015.

Reportedly, due to this hand written pamphlet, all her relatives and friends who visited her at the hospital have now come to know of her HIV +ve status adding to the woman's extreme anxiety. The hospital authorities confirmed the 'unfortunate incident' and said they had apologized to the patient.

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