An unlicensed doctor in India has been arrested for infecting 46 or more people with HIV with a used syringe.
Rajendra Yadav a mobile doctor who went from door to door offering cheap medical services to villagers was arrested by police after a case was filed against him for the spread of this disease amongst the Unnao district.
Pushpanjali Devi Unnao police chief stated “He was arrested on a tip-off and is being questioned about his role in the case.”
The street doctor is facing charges of impersonation and endangering human lives, his medical instruments have been sent for forensic tests.
“All these 46 cases are from specific localities within our district. This is when we decided to dig deeper some of the infected blamed the quack and his use of a single syringe.”
Medical officer S.P Choudhary informed AFP. However, he stated the high number of cases could not be accredited to Yadav alone.
“We don’t think that the quack doctor alone could be a factor for these numbers. The area has a high migrant trucker population, and the prevalence of unprotected sex could be the likely reason.”
India has 2.1 million people affected with HIV. It also spends little over 1% of its GDP on healthcare one of the lowest in the world, which they plan to improve by 2025.
There are 849,000 doctors in India that is one for every 1,674 people that is above the World Health Organisation (WHO)recommendations.