The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi is planning to setup a health care centre for providing holistic care to transgender individuals. The centre is expected to come up within the next 4-5 months at the burns and plastic surgery block of the institute, news agency PTI reported.
The centre dedicated to the transgender community is being setup keeping in view the difficulties faced by these communities in accessing healthcare services with the general public and their hesitation in seeking help due to stigma and societal biases.
The centre will have a setup where surgeries can be conducted according to the needs and endocrinology and psychiatry of the transgender under one roof.
AIIMS is in consultation with a health ministry division for setting up the dedicated centre to provide comprehensive and holistic care to the transgender individuals.
News agency PTI quoted Maneesh Singhal, head of department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, as saying that AIIMS is in consultation with the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) and the Ministry of Health to establish a 'Centre of Excellence for Transgender Healthcare'.
The decision was announced by Mr Singhal on the sidelines of a three-day workshop which was conducted to equip doctors, nurses, and paramedics with advanced skills to cater to the unique needs of transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The Advanced Gender Affirmative Care Workshop is being held in collaboration with the Association for Transgender Health in India (ATHI) and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) under the theme of "Addressing felt-need for training and capacity building of care providers".