Maldivian
NGO Voice of Women has expressed concern that the victims of the recent
HIV scandal at Indira Ghandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) will suffer from
further discrimination.
“Our foremost concern is that
the mother and child will be subject to unfair and unfounded
discrimination based on societal myths and misinformation about the
disease,” said the women’s rights NGO.
Despite acknowledgements that the Maldives as a society exhibits a number of high risk behaviors for transmission of HIV, the number of people reported to be living with the illness is less than 100.
The incident, in which HIV positive blood was given to a female patient – whom local media has reported to be pregnant – became public last week.
Following
similar calls from the Human Rights Commission, Voice of Women has
called for the protection of the patient’s identity as well as urging
concerned parties to initiate public awareness campaigns.
The
opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has accused the government
of hiding the news – first discovered 8 days prior to the public
announcement – until the conclusion of celebrations marking its policy
achievements since assuming power.
Health Minister Dr Mariyam Shakeela has rejected calls for her resignation,
arguing that the incident was a one off. She did, however, inform a
Majlis committee last week that the health sector was severely
underfunded.
An Indian expatriate – allegedly responsible for incorrectly marking the blood test – is currently being held in police custody.
IGMH Deputy CEO Dr Mohamed Habeeb told MPs on the government oversight
committee that the Indian national had admitted his culpability in the
incident.
Voice of Women have been critical of the tone
taken by Dr Shakeela in the aftermath of the incident, suggesting she
had failed to take responsibility for the systemic failures that led to
the incident – instead blaming a single individual.
“We
are concerned by repeated calls by the Minister for harsh and criminal
punishment for an individual. The punishments should be relevant and
take into consideration the failure of the system (if that is the case)
rather than laying responsibility solely on an individual,” read the
group’s press release.
The NGO also questioned the police’s ability to conduct what it suggests ought to be a medical inquiry.
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