A first of its kind trans-health clinic in Lucknow is instilling confidence among intersex people to search for their own identity.
‘Sabrang’, the clinic, claims to be the only one of its kind in north India.
Ayush Kumar Agnihotri, the clinic manager, says, “Every month we get people confused about what they look like and what they feel from inside. Experts working with us find a solution.”
Transgender is an umbrella term that encompasses people who have a gender identity or gender expression, which differs from their sex assigned at birth. Being independent of sexual orientation, they have often been classified as the “third sex.”
Dr Heeralal, additional director, National Health Mission, said, “Based on various socio-cultural traditions and beliefs, they are frequently discriminated against and stigmatised. This has led to their limited social inclusion and participation.”
“The average footfall at the clinic is up to 30 every month. All of them go for counselling and other services,” said Ayush.
For transgender population, the current standard under the National AIDS Control Programme is to deliver HIV services through targeted interventions (TI) which are implemented by NGO/CBOs for prevention services.
The current HIV prevalence among the transgender population in India is 3.14 per cent as per the 2017 data.
Given that the transgender population has broader health care needs beyond HIV, offering comprehensive services will most likely increase access to and adherence to STI/HIV prevention and treatment and increase overall health and well-being.
In many health care settings, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals experience discrimination and mistreatment.
In all, 438 transgender persons were registered at the clinic and 32 district representatives are active in 17 districts. So far, 3 webinars have been organized under the chairmanship of Dr Heera Lal.
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