Spurned by doctors, man helps HIV+ wife deliver

While India spends millions on AIDS awareness, for many people being HIV positive continues to spell untouchability.

In Meerut, a man was forced to help deliver his baby in a hospital after doctors there refused to attend to his HIV-positive wife.

The man and his pregnant wife came to the Meerut Medical College Hospital on Wednesday but were denied treatment after the doctors found out the woman was HIV+.

“Doctors said they would get AIDS, so they would not help us. I helped my wife deliver the baby,” the man told CNN-IBN on conditions of anonymity.

Doctors refused to touch the mother or even admit her into the labour room, forcing the father to help deliver the baby himself.

“The doctors refused to help us. My husband did everything the doctors were supposed to,” the woman told CNN-IBN.

The hospital says it is considering taking action against the concerned doctors.

However, some doctors continue to insist that what they did was right.

“She's a full-blown AIDS patient (sic), and she has to be kept in isolation. How can we keep her with other patients?” says gynecologist Dr Abhilasha Gupta.

Soon after the report was aired, a two-member NACO team reached Meerut to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

NACO members have recorded the statements of the victims and they have been sent to the District Magistrate.