Lucknow: After the shocking report of 46 people being infected by HIV due to usage of a common syringe by a quack in Unnao district’s Bangarmau village, the Uttar Pradesh health department is on its toes to ascertain the “real” reason behind the spike in numbers.
According to local residents, Shivbaksh Kheda resident Rajendra Yadav was quite famous in his area for the last several years as he charged only Rs 10 as consultation fee and the medicines he gave were also cheap. Villagers from nearly 30 to 40 villages used to visit the quack every day for “affordable treatment”.
The local residents said that quack Yadav used to see around 250 patients every day, of which 100 patients were given injections every day through a common syringe.
A Bangarmau resident, Gautam, who goes by his first name, said, “Mostly, when we used to go the community health centre, medicines were not available and doctors used to prescribe medicines which cost anything between Rs 400 to 500. The total cost of the treatment used to be quite expensive for a villager to afford. Hence, most of the villagers ended up visiting Yadav who administered treatment for just Rs 10. Also, his medicines used to suit people more.”
While nearly 40 people fell prey to the quack’s treatment, health officials said that the number of HIV cases in the nearby regions has risen in the recent past.
Speaking to News18, Chief Medical Superintendent of Bangarmau Government Hospital said, “Last year also there were HIV screening camps and in that time 13 cases were found positive, post which 25 cases were found positive in Premganj this year. There could also be other reasons for HIV infections, but that must be probed before coming to any conclusion.”
Meanwhile, the quack has been booked under relevant sections of the Medical Council Act.
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