印度“冒牌医生”四处行医疑似导致数十人感染HIV

NEW DELHI — Police officials in northern India were searching on Tuesday for a fake doctor suspected of infecting dozens of his patients with H.I.V. by reusing a dirty syringe.

印度北部警方周二正在搜寻一名没有行医资质的医生，他被怀疑重复使用被污染的注射器，导致数十名病人感染了HIV病毒。

The patients were treated by what is known as a “jhola chhaap doctor,” a wandering medical practitioner whose only verifiable qualification (a chhaap is a trademark or official seal) is a jhola, the cotton shoulder bag from which treatments are dispensed.

这类冒牌医生在印度被称为jhola chhaap doctor，指的是那些游走各地，没有任何医疗资格认证（除了一个装有医疗用具的棉布肩袋）的医疗人员。

Most are untrained, and some of the cures they offer can be dangerous, but in India, where the health care system is tremendously challenged, many poor people often feel they have no choice but to pay a few rupees for their services and hope for the best.

这些人大多没有受过专业训练，而且他们提供的一些治疗方法可能是危险的。但是印度目前的医疗体系面临巨大挑战，许多穷人常常觉得他们别无选择，只能付几卢比来获得这类“江湖医生”提供的治疗，祈祷能有好的结果。

In this case, health officials in Unnao, a primarily rural district two hours’ drive southwest of Lucknow, became concerned last July when an unusual number of patients visiting a government hospital began testing positive in routine H.I.V. screening.

事情是这样的，去年7月，乌纳奥(Unnao)的卫生官员注意到该地区前往医院进行HIV检测且结果呈现阳性的人数增加。乌纳奥位于勒克瑙西南部，大部分地区都是农村。

Medical officials in Unnao said that they had then tested hundreds of people who lived in the same areas as these H.I.V.-positive patients, including those who seemed perfectly healthy.

医疗官员说，他们随后对与这些HIV病毒携带者居住在同一地区的人进行了检测，包括那些看起来非常健康的人。

At least 33, they found, tested positive for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. All of those who tested positive said they had been treated by the same unqualified medical practitioner.

结果发现，至少有33人的检测结果呈阳性，这些人都表示曾接受过同一名没有行医资质的医生的治疗。

Police officers in the Unnao area are now looking for a jhola chhaap doctor in his mid-40s who rides a bicycle, often sits on a platform in the middle of villages and offers dubious cures. If arrested, police officials said, he is likely to face charges including spreading dangerous disease, impersonating a doctor and practicing medicine without a license.

乌纳奥地区的警察现在正在寻找一名40岁左右、经常骑着自行车的男子。如果他被捕，很可能面临传播危险疾病、冒充医生和无证行医的指控。

According to medical officials, he told many of his patients that an injection would make them feel better, and the patients said he kept reusing the same syringe without cleaning it.

医疗人员表示，这名医生告诉他的很多病人，注射会使他们感觉好一点，而病人说他一直重复使用同一个注射器而不清洗。

Government health officials are offering free H.I.V. treatment to all the people who were infected.

政府卫生官员免费提供对所有HIV病毒携带者的治疗。

Mohan Rao, the head of the Center of Social Medicine and Community Health at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said the prevalence of jhola chhaap doctors was a result of India’s overburdened medical system.

新德里贾瓦哈拉尔.尼赫鲁大学(Jawaharlal Nehru University)社会医学和社区卫生中心负责人莫汉.拉奥(Mohan Rao)说，"jhola chhaap doctor"风行是印度医疗系统负担过重的结果。

“Desperate people find desperate ways to get health care,’’ he said. “It’s a failure of Indian society, a failure of Indian politics. We spend the lowest on public health care in the world.’’

“绝望的人找到了绝望的方式来获得医疗保健，”他说：“这是印度社会的失败，印度政治的失败。在全球公共卫生方面，我们的花费最少。”

India’s government spent 1.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product on health care in 2014, according to the World Bank, and the United States 8.3 percent.

根据世界银行的报告，2014年，印度政府将国内生产总值(GDP)的1.4％用于医疗保健。美国则是8.3％。

The government said this month that it would offer free health care to half a billion poor Indians, but many details of the plan have yet to be finalized.

印度政府本月表示，将为该国五亿的贫困人口提供免费的医疗保健，但该计划的许多细节尚未确定。

A lengthy page on an Indian consumer complaints website describes dozens of encounters with jhola chhaap doctors across India, with bilked patients denouncing “bogus” practitioners who “play with innocent people’s lives.”

印度消费者投诉网站上的一长串的页面描述了许多人与印度各地的"jhola chhaap doctor"的数十次交锋。被骗的患者谴责了这些“玩弄无辜人民的生命”的“伪”执业医生。

The Delhi Medical Council, a government oversight body, estimates that fake doctors in Delhi outnumber the qualified and registered ones.

德里医疗委员会(Delhi Medical Council)估计，德里的冒牌医生数量超过了合法注册的医生数量。