Affected by AIDS, 5-year-old dies ‘for want of treatment’

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, December 10

A five-year-old AIDS patient child died reportedly due to lack of treatment in a locality on the outskirts of the town today.

A local resident had informed Childline about lack of treatment to the child in August. However, Childline, an emergency helpline for children in distress, informed the child welfare committee (CWC), which directed Childline activists to bring the children to them for further necessary action.

Partho Ghosh, an activist associated with Childline, said they had visited the house of the child several times, but the guardians refused to hand over the patient. “We have submitted a report to the CWC on September 29 that the child’s parents had died and his guardians are not taking care of the patient. They are not ready to hand over the child for treatment,” he told The Tribune.

However, a concerned citizen complained about the pitiable condition of the child to the Chief Minister Window on November 29.

The complaint was forwarded to the Hisar Deputy Commissioner, who took up the matter with a subordinate organisation on December 2 and asked it to send an action taken report at the earliest. When a team of The Tribune team visited the house of the AIDS patient, the child’s aunt said he died today.

She said, “We took him to the PGIMS in Rohtak about 15 days back. The doctors, after attending on him, gave prescriptions. We were giving him the medicine,” she said. He vomited last night and died, she said.

CWC chairperson Kamini Malik did not respond to repeated phone calls and messages for her version. District child protection officer Dr Anita said she had joined duty last month so she was not aware of the matter. “No such matter came to my knowledge,” she said.