Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The 24-year old transgender Aftab alias Dewani died on Saturday at the Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar. Hailing from Swat valley, Dewani left her family and shifted to Peshawar.

She was tested positive for HIV when she visited the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar for treatment of chest infection.

The transgender community abandoned Dewani after knowing that she was diagnosed with the life threatening disease and she started living near a rubbish dump in Hashtnagri Peshawar.

“The clerics in Peshawar too had refused to perform her funeral prayer. Later a cleric from Nowshera was brought at the last moment to lead her funeral prayer”, said Qamar Naseem, Blue Veins head while talking to Daily Times.

He said that when Dewani was diagnosed HIV positive they shifted her to Family Care Centre Hayatabad but after some treatment she was discharged and again she started living near a garbage dump in Peshawar.

He further said that he was in contact with an organization in Lahore and the head of that organization promised that they would bear the expenditure on the treatment of Dewani.

Qamar alleged the HMC FCC centre for not providing the transgender timely emergency treatment due to which she was died on Saturday morning. Farzana, president of the Trans Action Association (TAA) in KP, said that the government and health department had not taken any action over the non-availability of emergency treatment to Dewani.

The TAA head maintained that the provincial government had announced Rs 500 million for HIV/Aids control program. “We should be told where these funds were being used as we lost one of our best friends today,” Farzana said. “I brought the body of Dewani from HMC hospital by paying Rs 2,250 to Ambulance. I don’t see any change in the health sector claimed by the provincial government of PTI”, Farzana asked.

When asked the transgender community too had left Dewani during her last days when she was diagnosed HIV positive, Farzana replied when Dewani was admitted to the hospital we visit her daily at the hospital.

The TAA president said that there were around 55,000 transgender in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while around 12 transgender were HIV positive, adding that in Bannu and Swat the ratio of HIV in transgender was higher.

Subhan Ali, project manager of Community and Home Base Care-a project of Khwendo Kor (KK) and National Aids Control Program-told Daily Times that around eight HIV positive patients were registered in Peshawar including Dewani.

He added that under the project they provided food package and other medicine and even bore the expenses of surgery of the transgender. “We regularly follow up such patients,” he said.

Aids Control Program Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Project director Dr. Ayub Rose rejected the allegation that the transgender was denied treatment and said that all possible treatment was provided on time to the patient.

He said that around 2,643 patients of HIV were registered with KP Aids control program among which 2,341 HIV patients were registered at Hayatabad Medical Complex’s Family Care Centre. Among the Aids patients 1,781 were male while 587 were female, he explained. He added that all patients without any gender discrimination were being provided treatment from Aids Control Program, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.