US city plans to provide transgender surgeries

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco is preparing to become the first US city to provide and cover the cost of sex reassignment surgeries for uninsured transgender residents.

The city's Health Commission voted on Tuesday to create a comprehensive program for treating transgender people experiencing mental distress because of the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identities.

The vote was announced on Thursday.

The idea came out of conversations between public health officials and transgender rights advocates who wanted mastectomies, genital reconstructions and other surgeries covered under San Francisco's universal health care programme.