Pune: Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) has started a hospital dedicated for the transgender community in the city. There are about 5,000 transgender in the city of which 150 are in touch with the association.
The hospital has been started near Ved Bhavan at Kothrud. It was inaugurated on Friday (August 7) by FPAI Secretary Geetanjali Deshpande. Professor Sagar Shedage Manager Praveen Sonawane, Archana Sasare and other office bearers were present during the inaugural function.
Transgender community members can avail HIV and other tests and treatment free of cost on every Monday between 6 pm to 8pm at the hospital. The organisation had started a mobile clinic for the transgender community earlier. Based on its experience, this new dedicated hospital has been started. Prof Shedage said apart from the hospital facility by the organisation, Sai Education Trust is providing assistance to class 10, 12 and other students from the transgender community.
The transgender community faces bias from all sections of the society including doctors. Some from the transgender community also claim that doctors and nurses refuse medical care and attention to them due to their bias.
Some doctors at government hospitals do not ask them for their gender preference before assigning them a ward. Female patients object to the admission of transgender members into the female ward while male patients lass lewd comments during or after the clinical examinations of their private parts. Lack of sensitised behaviour from educated people like doctors and nurses is the cause of distress to the transgender community. There was a long pending demand of reserving hospital bed for transgender persons in the hospitals.
Bharati Vidyapeeth Hospital had announced to start an all-inclusive medical service for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in 2018 with a dedicated outpatient department (OPD) and also a full-fledged super speciality providing services, including counselling, psychiatry, endocrinology, psychology and cosmetic surgery facilities.