Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested unlicensed and self-proclaimed doctor for infecting 58 people with HIV, by allegedly using the same syringe in Unnao district. The accused identified as Rajendra Yadav who was arrested from his relative's house where he was hiding after the incident came to light.
According to police, the quack used to travel village to village on his motorbike on a call. He used to charge Rs 10 for each visit. The spreading of HIV first came to light in July 2017, when 12 people were found to be HIV positive. Later in the year, 17 more from the same area were found HIV positive.
The Unnao administration in January directed the district health department to organise a health camp after learning people from same region suffering from lethal disease. In a medical camp organised on January, doctors tested more person HIV positive.
However, an FIR against Yadav was lodged by a doctor at the Bangarmau community health centre on January 31. HIV spreads through an infected person's body fluids, such as blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, and breast milk. In India, it spreads primarily through unsafe sex and sharing needles to inject drugs, which leads to stigma against those infected. This incident has again highlighted poor healthcare services which force many villagers to seek cheap medicines.