Patients awaiting AIIMS treatment in Delhi suffer toxic air

AIIMS receives at least 10,000 patients at its outpatient departments every day, many of whom are left with no choice but to wait outside—sometimes for days or even weeks—until they can get a bed for treatment

Spiking pollution levels and dipping temperatures are proving to be a double whammy for patients from across the country who come to undertake treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the Capital, as they are confined to footpaths and pavements outside due to unaffordable rentals for accommodations.

People awaiting treatment dot the lanes around AIIMS as they await their turn for treatment or to get a hospital bed for treatment. (HT Photo)

Thirty-eight-year-old Mohamad Shabaz, who came from Chapra district in Bihar, is suffering from blood cancer, which was diagnosed three months ago. But unable to afford treatment at private hospitals, Shabaz turned to government-run AIIMS. But getting treated at AIIMS, especially during winter, is proving to be a struggle, he said.

Shabaz and his wife came to Delhi on November 4 and have been sleeping at the underpass outside AIIMS. “We were told that currently, there was no bed and we will have to wait till there is a vacant one. We have no option but to wait,” he said.

Shabaz, who has started chemotherapy treatment, is having trouble breathing due to the severe air pollution in the city. He is using a surgical mask, which is hardly of any use. “For the past many days, I can’t stop coughing. My eyes are always watery. The condition is the same for my wife, who, unlike me is much healthier and not suffering from any disease. I am scared that I might be putting her life in danger,” he said.

“Probably, this is the price one has to pay to get treatment done in this city,” he said.

Shabaz’s case was far from an isolated one, as scores of patients and their caretakers dot the pavements and free spaces surrounding AIIMS.

Sixty-year-old Kishor (who goes by one name), from Uttar Pradesh’s Kunwar district, said he is undergoing treatment for a leg condition, but is afraid the pollution may cause him other health issues. Sitting on the sidewalk near the busy bus stop outside AIIMS, Kishor is masked up, but his N95 mask is now frayed and torn. “I’ve read in the papers about how pollution is hurting people, especially the elderly. So, I bought a mask, hoping it would offer some relief from the dust,” he said.

AIIMS receives at least 10,000 patients at its outpatient departments every day, many of whom are left with no choice but to wait outside—sometimes for days or even weeks—until they can get a bed for treatment.

For those stuck on the streets, the combination of crowding and hazardous air makes the wait almost unbearable, especially as winter thickens the smog. Patients and their families have expressed frustration at the lack of relief, calling for urgent measures to address the suffering.

For Vinod Mathur, a daily wage labourer from West Bengal, the wait has been even longer. For the past three days, he has camped outside AIIMS hoping to get a token for his 57-year-old mother, Batni Mathur, who is suffering from lung cancer. “I’ve been waiting for three days just to get a token. But every time my turn comes, the tokens are already finished,” he said.

For Mathur, the wait is not just frustrating—it’s dangerous. His mother, already weakened by cancer, struggles to breathe in the thick haze of dust and pollution that surrounds the AIIMS campus.

“It’s hard for her to breathe. The road is full of dust and smoke, and it makes everything worse for her,” he said.

“A room costs ₹700-1,000 a day, but for a daily wage labourer like me, it’s just not affordable. So, I have no choice but to keep my mother here with me on the road,” he said.