Two government
hospitals in Calcutta that refused to treat an
HIV-positive boy for more than a year said Tuesday they
would investigate why he was turned away, and a
government agency also said it would look into the
case.
The boy,
7-year-old Maniur Rehman, was admitted to another hospital,
the city's School of Tropical Medicine, on Saturday
after his case was taken up by People for Better
Treatment, a Calcutta group that promotes the rights
of people suffering from HIV.
He is believed to
have been infected with HIV through a blood transfusion
he was given about two years ago to help treat a genetic
disorder known as thalassemia.
Prejudice against
people with HIV runs deep in India, even among doctors.
The boy's father, Sheikh Idris Ali, said physicians at Seth
Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital and Calcutta Medical
College and Hospital refused to treat his son for
thalassemia for more than a year after learning he had
become HIV-positive.
The chiefs of the
two government hospitals promised to investigate why
the boy was turned away.
But Ashok Ghosh
of Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital noted that
operating rooms at the hospital are booked far in advance,
and said that may be why the boy wasn't treated.
The West Bengal
State AIDS Prevention and Control Society said it also
planned to investigate.
''If what is
being alleged has happened, then it is unfortunate. We will
take up the case and take necessary action,'' said Dipendra
Narayan Goswami, a program officer at the government
agency. Calcutta is located in West Bengal state. (AP)