1 week Ago By Anjali Jhangiani
Pune: In Feb this year, came one of the harshest blows to the country's trans community. Three branches of the Mitr Clinic, located in Pune, Hyderabad and Thane, shut down after funds to USAID — a key sponsor — were frozen by the US govt. For years, transgender individuals have struggled to access essential healthcare.
So the closure of the clinics, set up specifically to serve the community, was among top concerns on International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), marked every year to celebrate the community and increase awareness on the discrimination they face. "The shutting down of the clinic in Pune is the big worry this year," said Shyam Konnur, founder of the Mist LGBTQ Foundation, launched in 2009 to improve healthcare access and welfare of trans people. "Community members have been asking us to act, but we lack the funds to run a clinic on our own.
Earlier, we would receive free medication from USAID, subsidised diagnostic tests, and trained counsellors for mental health support, but all of that stopped in Feb," Konnur said. For transgender individuals, seeking medical help comes with complexities. Many have undergone hormone replacement therapy (HRT), a procedure that can affect metabolism, blood pressure and even organ function.
Any medication that is prescribed must be first evaluated for its interactions with HRT. But community members said several doctors lack the necessary training, leading to misdiagnosis or insufficient care. Then, there's the stigma.
"I had a wound which needed dressing. When I went to a private clinic, the doctor who was cleaning the injury just stopped midway when I told him I was HIV positive. He then washed his hands and told me to leave," said a trans man TOI spoke to.
Pune's Sassoon hospital has had a dedicated transgender ward since 2023, but the unit has seen low admission rates, largely due to the fact that many transgender individuals lack transgender certificates or identity cards. All this means the scores of community members in the city now have only a few healthcare facilities to rely on, where they can expect to be treated with dignity and at affordable rates — average consultation costs can be as high as Rs 2,000 per visit at some clinics. "Even now, some doctors refuse to treat HIV-positive patients from the transgender community," said Tejas Kshatriya, a trans activist, who explained how stigma triggers a reluctance to seek care at key hospitals.
"People often don't understand that they should use our chosen names. At many OPDs, hospital staff still call out our birth names, and that alone causes a sense of unease and conveys unacceptance," Kshatriya said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with EID Wishes , Messages and quotes !.
