July 31, 2019
Transgender rights organizations Blue Veins and TransAction (Provincial Alliance of Transgender Community) appreciated Health Department of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for fulfilling their long awaited demand of allocating separate wards for transgender community.
Acting upon the orders of the Chief Minister KP, the provincial health department issued instructions to all the health officials to provide separate wards for transgender persons in all government hospitals across the province.
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 poor health care facilities and neglect of doctors.
Qamar Naseem, Program Coordinator Blue Veins, appreciated KP Government, Secretary Health, Secretary Social Welfare, Senator Rubena Khalid, Nighat Yaseemn Orkazi, Speaker KP Assembly, Deputy Speaker, Minister Health and Dr.Sumera Shams for interest and continued support. He said, “Most health care providers have had little or no formal training in addressing the needs of transgender patients, which can contribute to the stress that members of the transgender community may develop through stigmatization, avoidance, discrimination, and prejudice.
Arzu Khan, General Secretary of TransAction Alliance, said “ Both federal and provincial governments should make sustained investment in the field of transgender health, so that transgender community can receive quality care for their needs in an open and respectful environment. Transgender people can lead longer, happier and healthier lives – but only if they are allowed the same level of healthcare access and treatment as everyone else”
