Health Issues Everywhere; No Solution in Sight!

Democracy provides every citizen the right to proper health, but do the governments across the world follow the same? Animesh Ranjan, reporting from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), ponders over this question as the debate over health issues of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) unfolds.

How does one go about providing healthcare services to a person their state may or may not recognize? This issue was brought forth in the latest session of debate in HRC. The deliberations began over the issue of obstacles to healthcare and security faced by the LGBT community. The United States of America (USA) began by responding to the allegations from the Republic of Ecuador (Ecuador) over the “Bathroom Bill”. Their justification was that it protected them from the sexual predators!

There were many states which prioritized the healthcare issues faced by the LGBT community. Some nations went ahead and set their own examples as states which have worked on the welfare of this community.

On the other hand, many states had a common stance which brought forth some common points such as lack of proper information, high risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), and lack of health insurance (because the nations refuse to recognize them).

States like the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) and Ivory Coast were vocal about their concerns over the ostracisation of the LGBT community. This concern was reiterated many times over by the Delegates. Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal), the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Jordan).

A different stance emerged when the Delegate of the Russian Federation (Russia) went ahead and attempted to describe a different set of rules for their doctors, stating that if a doctor refuses to serve a patient, it is their choice and they cannot be held responsible. The council was quick to point fingers at the Delegate for this controversial statement.

The Delegate Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia) called for proactive measures saying “Prevention is better than cure”. Some of the statistics that were quoted referred to the LGBT community as the source of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It is known that AIDS spreads via sex without precautions. This knowledge, combined with the statement by the Delegate, suggests that the LGBT community is either not properly informed or not given proper freedom.

The Delegate of Ecuador was one of the few to point fingers at the USA, mentioning how people in some states, if they have had sex with a bisexual person, or with a person of the same sex, they are not allowed to donate blood.

As for the solutions to this issue, countries like the People’s Republic of China (China) supported the gender reassignment surgery. However, concerns were raised in the council over the mental state of such people, as the transition is not always smooth, according to sources.

It becomes imperative that a framework with proper solutions to address individual issues are deliberated upon. This will lead to a better society for the LGBT community.