Some doctors in the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan are refusing to treat people with a history of drug use, incarceration and HIV infection.
EurasiaNet reports that such individuals are “regularly denied treatment at hospitals around the country.”
Scarce medical resources are partially to blame, but social stigma also drives the problem.
According to a report funded by the Soros Foundation, one doctor said that drug users “made a personal decision to choose such a lifestyle” and should therefore be denied care even in life-threatening situations.
–Julia Hengst/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“Kyrgyzstan: Doctors Deny Treatment To Undesirables”
EurasiaNet, February 20, 2009