Livemint: New Delhi: Thursday, June
02, 2016.
More than
2,000 people contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to unsafe blood
transfusion across India in the last 17 months. The information was revealed in
response to a RTI (right to information) application filed by Mumbai-based
activist Chetan Kothari.
The news was
first reported by The Hindu newspaper.
The RTI reply
from National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) shows that 2,234 persons,
including children, got HIV from contaminated blood. Uttar Pradesh tops the
list with 361 such cases, followed by Gujarat (292), Maharashtra (276) and
Delhi (264).
States like
Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim did not report any case of HIV infection
through blood transfusion.
However, NACO
said the number revealed in the RTI was based on self-reporting by the patients
and not verified through any scientific means.
“The
information provided in response to the RTI refers to information on
self-reported transmission of HIV recorded by counsellors from clients
attending the ICTC (Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres). This is not further
corroborated by any scientific means to confirm that transmission is indeed due
to blood transfusion,” said NACO in a statement.
The data
reveals serious lack of regulation on NACO’s part. According to the rules, it
is the responsibility of NACO to ensure safe blood transfusion. It is mandatory in India
to screen donors and donated blood for HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, malaria
and syphilis.
“It is
illegal to not test the blood before transfusion,” said Naresh Goyal, deputy
director general, NACO.
NACO noted
that all blood samples have to be tested for five transfusion-transmitted
infections. But there is a window period between acquiring the infection and
the infection becoming detectable. If the blood is tested during this period,
it won’t show any infection. And if transfusion takes place during that period,
it can be harmful.
It also
stated that blood transfusion accounts for less than 1% of total HIV infection
and there is no increasing trend in HIV transmission through blood, as
reflected in ICTC data.