Following President Donald Trump’s suspension of U.S. foreign aid, India’s first transgender medical centre has closed its doors in three locations.
When the Mitr (Friend) Clinic opened in Hyderabad in 2021, it offered thousands of transgender persons vital medical treatments like HIV treatment, counselling, and support. Due to the financing halt, two more Mitr Clinics that were founded in the same year—in Thane and Pune—have also closed.
Trump issued an executive order in January that halted all foreign aid for ninety days while he examined foreign spending. He has placed a strong emphasis on matching his “America First” policy with foreign spending.
This action has had a major effect on USAID, the U.S. organisation in charge of providing worldwide humanitarian aid since the 1960s. Many development programs around the world have been impacted by the funding halt, especially in low-income and developing countries.
The transgender population in India has suffered greatly as a result of the closing of the Mitr Clinics, which has restricted their access to necessary medical care.
During George W. Bush’s presidency in 2003, the program first emerged as part of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Indian government, Johns Hopkins University, and USAID worked together on it.
According to a staff member who spoke to media on condition of anonymity, the three clinics provided HIV therapy to 6% to 8% of their 6,000 patients. “Many of these cases involved individuals under 30 years old, and 75% to 80% of them were accessing healthcare for the first time,” according to the source.
A considerable number of the 150 to 200 transgender patients the Mitr Clinic saw each month in Hyderabad alone were HIV-positive. The clinic was run by a small group of medical professionals, psychologists, and technicians.
According to trans woman Rachana Mudraboyina, the clinic’s previous director, “we received 250,000 rupees ($2,900; £2,300) per month to operate,” she told.
The transgender community is really disappointed with the closure. A trans woman who frequently visited the clinic, Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, told The Indian Express that she was “devastated” by the news. The loss of access to its services was a source of regret for another trans lady who had intended to get treatment there.
