Transgender Health and Healthcare in India: A Review

Abstract

The share of Transgender in overall global population is 0.5 percent of which 490000 reside in India (Census 2011). Pushed away from the mainstream society due to their socially non-confirming gender identity has implications on their health and wellbeing. This paper describes the social roots of various health and healthcare problems faced by transgender in India. The paper is based on reflections and analysis from mainly two sources of information i.e. descriptive literature review and the first-hand experience of one of the authors who completed an internship project between April and June 2017 on transgender health in Pondicherry, India. It concludes with a call for not just upgrading healthcare system but also sensitizing society to be all gender-inclusive for better health and life of transgender persons in India.