The proposal for constituting a high-level investigating committee to probe the incident of an HIV positive woman being labelled and reportedly paraded in the Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital in Jamnagar is yet to take the final shape.

The proposal will be finalised on Tuesday after the Health Commissioner approves it. The committee will submit its report within seven days of its formation.

Meanwhile, questions abound about the five-member committee that was formed at the Jamnagar Hospital to probe the incident. No action has been initiated against anyone ever since the incident took place on Saturday except that three of the staff members have been asked to proceed on leave.

Now, with the formation of the high-level committee, the five-member committee will automatically be dissolved.

Dr Pradeep Kumar, the Additional Project Director of Gujarat State AIDS Control Society (GSACS), said, “Once the high-level committee is formed, the hospital committee will automatically stand dissolved, as the government wants to make the committee comparatively broad based.”

The five-member committee includes the Additional Medical Superintendent, a professor of the TB and Chest Department of the hospital, a matron of the hospital, a member of District Level Network of people living with HIV and AIDS, and a member of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS).

Meanwhile, the Health Department, which is at present, finalising the high-level committee, is of the opinion that the ‘unfortunate incident’ has marred its efforts to create awareness and work for HIV positive and AIDS patients.

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