Transgenders thank Dy CM for 26-bed dedicated ward | Pune News
Transgenders thank Dy CM for 26-bed dedicated ward | Pune News
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Dressed in sarees with vibrant geometric patterns and rich colours, a group of transgenders waited for ‘Dada’ aka Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on the eighth floor of the multi-storey building of Sassoon General Hospital on Friday to formally inaugurate the transgender ward. “We want to thank him and several others,” said Chandani Gore of Nirbhaya Anandi Jeevan Sanstha, who got a chance to publicly acknowledge the effort at a function organised later.
While state medical education minister Hasan Mushrif formally inaugurated the dedicated 26-bed transgender ward at Sassoon Hospital, activists with the transgender community said this was a much-needed move as it will ensure the overall well-being of the transgenders.
Gore recollected an instance when some among the ‘medical fraternity’ were unwilling to treat them on a priority basis. “We have to wait for so long to get treated for an ordinary ailment,” recalled Monica Punekar, one of the transgender members from Mangal Mukhi Kinnar Charitable trust.
For Kashish Bhalke and Kadambari, the transgender ward at the hospital “shows that the government has recognized our community.”
According to Dr Rohidas Borse, professor and head of the Department of Community Medicine, Sassoon General Hospital, the transgender ward is a multispecialty facility.
“Due to discrimination, there is hesitation on the part of some of the members of this community to avail important medical facilities. The transgender ward has been set up to ensure their overall well-being and also help provide counselling services,” said Dr Borse.
Rupali Chakankar, chairperson of the State Women’s Commission, said they had led the effort towards setting up of the transgender ward and would ensure dignity among the members of the community while availing treatment.
While several have welcomed the effort, few senior activists flagged concerns about sensitivity among doctors and nurses about transgender-related issues. Bindumadhav Khire, an LGBTQI activist and director of Bindu Queer Rights Foundation (Pune), said hospital authorities should allow them to conduct sensitization sessions for the medical community.
“Sassoon hospital needs to have a protocol in place on how to go about dealing with transgender patients for administrative/legal purposes, especially in cases where the transgender may be semi-closeted or who may have different govt IDs – for instance, difference in gender in Aadhaar card and the gender stated by them,” Khire said.
Khire also pointed out that adequate protocols also need to be in place for hormonal and surgical transition for trans persons—from mental health assessment for gender dysphoria to gender affirming hormone therapy /gender affirmative surgery.
Meanwhile, among the other facilities that were formally inaugurated are the renovated B J Medical College ground, forensic medicine and toxicology department and mortuary that can accommodate 140 bodies, PET scan and Spect Scan centre, interventional radiology centre, renovated blood bank, neurosurgery and emergency medicine department. The 11-storey multispecialty building was also formally inaugurated. A total of Rs 183 crore was spent on this building.
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