Trans-Affirmative Medical Education in India: Need for Reform and Core Competencies
FOCUS
This report was published on October 20, 2022. It highlights the lack of Trans-Affirmative Medical Education in India. It emphasises that transgender and gender non-binary (TGNB) people in India have faced exclusion from healthcare services. The report calls for reforms in nursing, dental and allied health professional education to facilitate their access to heathcare services. It adds that since most of the heathcare education focuses on the gender binary of male and female, transgender and intersex experiences are actively excluded.
The ’TransCare Med-ed’ project which was hosted at NGO Sangath, Bhopal in 2011 is instrumental to the publication of this report.
This 58-page document is divided into six sections: Executive Summary (Section 1); Introduction & Need for Reform (Section 2); About the Project (Section 3); Competencies on Trans-Affirmative Health Provision for UG curriculum (Section 4); Summary of discussions in TransCare MedEd National Conference on Trans-Affirmative Medical Education (Section 5); Way Forward (Section 6).
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Transgender people experience discrimination and mistreatment in healthcare institutions. Some transgender people choose not to seek medical attention out of fear of mistreatment and the high cost of care. For instance, 51 per cent of the 3,619 respondents to the Kerela Transgender Survey 2014–15 reported having experienced discrimination in healthcare institutions.
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Learners need to be aware of the care standards and laws that are in place at the national and state levels to safeguard transgender and non-binary people. The report adds that minority SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics) groups should be encouraged to take part in research that will support the development of laws and policies protecting them.
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According to the report, transforming healthcare to be trans-affirmative would require a “generational unlearning of institutional transphobia” and a reshaping of doctor-patient relationships by centering care over implicit prejudices and stereotypes.
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It has been noted that in addition to the prevalent disrespect and discrimination in heathcare institutions, going to a health center puts privacy at danger. This limits the well-being of individuals who belong to sexual and gender minority groups.
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In addition to healthcare and education systems, the media must change how it covers issues concerning transgenders and present information in a “trans affirming manner”.
Focus and Factoids by Ashish Singh.
PARI Library’s health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.
FACTOIDS
AUTHOR
UNDP
COPYRIGHT
UNDP
PUBLICATION DATE
20 Oct, 2022