On the morning of March 26, the third day of lockdown in India’s capital over coronavirus fears, 15-year-old Himanshu’s mother tried to board a state-run bus to collect her son’s medicines for HIV from a government-run hospital.

It was her scheduled day to pick up the monthly anti-retroviral therapy (ART) drugs, the HIV-suppressing drug that has to be taken lifelong, provided free of charge to patients registered with government hospitals.

But with strict travel restrictions in place, the conductor did not allow her on the government-run bus, despite her furnishing the “green book” provided by the Kalawati Saran Children’s hospital located in central New Delhi’s Gole Market area.

Himanshu’s father volunteered to go by bicycle to pick up the drugs instead, but a policeman stopped him and turned him back, as well.

“Sometimes, the Delhi police see your hospital book and let you go. But sometimes, they will see the word HIV and chase you,” says Loon Gangte, co-ordinator of the Delhi Network of Positive People – a collective that works for people living with HIV.

“It is the term HIV. They think we are all sex workers and drug addicts. Yesterday [March 25], police beat up one of our outreach workers who was trying to organise. There is still prejudice even though it is now against the law to discriminate against persons with HIV.”

India is believed to be home to the third-largest population of HIV-positive people in the world. There are 21.4 million Indians living with HIV, according to the National Aids Control Organisation data in 2017.

The Indian government provides ART to all HIV+ people registered in government hospitals, most of whom are overwhelmingly the poor and rely on public transport.

But public transport across the country, including metro rails, taxis as well as buses, have been banned as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a lockdown on Wednesday and urged people to maintain social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus that has killed more than 30,000 people worldwide.

The move seems to be taking a toll on the HIV-positive people along with other patients with chronic conditions.

The government clarified that people would be allowed to go out for essential supplies, including groceries and medicines, without being asked for documentation to prove the nature of their trip.

Many patients, who live in smaller towns or rural areas but are registered with the government hospitals in cities are finding it difficult to travel amid the ban on public transport. Many were forced to use private transport, such as cycles or motorbikes to travel.

Himanshu’s parents, who live in a working-class neighbourhood of Jahangirpuri in New Delhi, eventually walked to the hospital and walked back home, 19km (11.8 miles) on foot each way.

“I have applied to the police for a traffic permit. I want to be able to reach them on my bike when the police stops anyone,” Gangte said.

“But the lines at the police station are so long, the first day it was almost two kilometres (1.25 miles) long. I came away because I am already immune-compromised; HIV itself means immunity deficiency. But when my outreach worker was beaten, I decided to brave the crowds to apply for the permit.”

Critics have accused the government of imposing the lockdown for 1.3 billion people without proper planning.

Over the past week, social media has been full of imagery and stories of policemen beating up vendors, smashing shops, deflating the tyres of vendor carts. In one striking photograph, a policeman is beating a person with a lathi while speaking on the phone.

Tens of thousands of migrant workers have been stranded in cities following the shutdown of businesses and factories, with many walking hundreds of kilometres to reach their homes amid lack of transport.

Source: Al Jazeera