PESHAWAR – Transgender rights organizations Blue Veins and TransAction (Provincial Alliance of Transgender Community) appreciated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for fulfilling their demand of allocating separate wards for the transgender community and looking into the specific transgender healthcare issues.
According to the notification, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister has ordered the health department to take necessary steps for providing safe environment to the transgender community at all government and non-governmental healthcare institutions of the province, in response to the instructions the health department had issued a notification to provide separate words/rooms for the transgender persons in the all government hospital across the province with immediate effect.
As per orders, MTI hospitals shall provide 5 beds, category A and B hospital staff provide 4 beds while category C hospitals shall provide 3, district health officers are asked to update the Director General Health about the compliance of this notification.
Addressing a press conference, Farzana Jan President of the Transaction Alliance demanded that the allocated wards in Lady Reading Hospital should be named “Alisha Shaheed Memorial Ward” to remember transgender rights activist Alisha who died in Peshawar because of the negligence of doctors.
She said, “Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act 2018 not only asks to facilitate access by providing an enabling and safe environment for Transgender Persons in hospitals and other healthcare institutions, but also require to review medical curriculum and improve research for Doctors and nursing staff to address specific health issues of Transgender persons” Qamar Naseem program Coordinator Blue Veins appreciated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government, Secretary Health, Secretary Social Welfare, Senator Rubena Khalid, Nighat Yaseemn Orkazi, Speaker KP Assembly, Deputy Speaker, Minister Health and Dr.Sumera Shams for their continued support.
KP Government especially the health department is taking steps to address the challenges of transgender healthcare.
Taimur Kamal Coordinator of Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network said many transgenders still are denied healthcare because of their identity.
