Initiative to educate professionals on transgender health

New Delhi: To promote

trans-inclusive healthcare

and to

educate

healthcare

professionals

on transgender health, an initiative,

‘TransCare:MedEd’

, has been launched by Sangath, a public health research NGO, in association with the University of Chicago. As part of the initiative, workshops will be conducted for

healthcare

professionals, medical educators and other stakeholders to bring in changes in mindset towards transgenders’ healthcare.

“The project is planned in collaboration with the transgender community, with Dr Aqsa Shaikh of Jamia Hamdard and is funded by the University of Chicago,” the organisation stated.

According to Sangath, TransCare:MedEd aims to highlight global best practices in shared decision-making for vulnerable communities and to create a set of core competencies on trans-affirmative healthcare for India.

Shaikh, associate professor of community medicine at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, said it was a year-long project and workshops would be conducted in Delhi, Bhopal and Manipal.

Dr Satendra Singh, disability leader and professor at University College of Medical Sciences, emphasised on the previous successful advocacy. “I was the Indian lead on the University of Chicago’s ‘Disability-inclusive compassionate care’ project, which resulted in disability competencies and their subsequent implementation into the new medical curriculum in India. We intend to do the same with this initiative.”

Anant Bhan, leading bioethicist associated with the project, said that TransCare MedEd would focus on the need for identifying and acting on areas of reform in health professionals’ education.

“This community-based approach across multiple Indian cities to develop trans health competencies is a major step towards bridging the health inequities faced by trans and gender non-binary people living in India,” said Anu Hazra, project lead and assistant professor at University of Chicago.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.