Jharkhand HIV cases: People’s Health Organisation calls for harsh penalties on blood, organ trafficking

Recently, six children with thalassemia contracted HIV after blood transfusions at a government run hospital in Jharkhand.

Blood Bank at a hospital. (Source: Express Archives)

The HIV transmission to six thalassaemic children in Jharkhand through blood donation is not an isolated case and highlights systemic failure and administrative collapse in the blood banking system, the People’s Health Organisation (PHO) said today.

Recently, six children with thalassemia contracted HIV after blood transfusions at a government run hospital in Jharkhand. While investigations are underway, PHO, a group that works in HIV intervention and projects for sex workers (Saheli project in Pune), among others, has urged that a multi-prong strategy is required for blood safety and to halt organ trade.

PHO has actively defended the fight against commercialisation of blood and has fought legal battles for blood safety since 1989. During that year, the group had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court for blood safety. Based on the court directions, the states of Maharashtra and Goa had started HIV screening in blood banks in 1989.

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“It required a long-drawn battle in making it a national policy. Though blood safety has contributed significantly in HIV prevention, whereby, HIV transmission through blood among total HIV cases in India is down to less than 1% now, from10% before 1998, but the commercialisation in the Blood Banks remained cause for concern,” Dr I S Gilada, secretary general, PHO told The Indian Express.

“Such instances (like the Jharkhand one) keep happening now and then as a result of serious policy paralysis and intellectual bankruptcy. Saving people from HIV infection through blood and saving children getting HIV through pregnancy requires a very strong policy and system in place,” Dr Gilada who is also President Emeritus, AIDS Society of India said.

Also Read | Too little too late: Jharkhand tries to join the dots after 5 kids who went for thallasemia treatment were infected with HIV

He added that a multi-prong strategy ensuring blood safety would include appealing to doctors, hospitals and blood banks to use only screened blood. “Use blood judiciously, only on true indications, preferably use fractions – Plasma, Platelets or Red cells – than whole blood, avoid its commercialisation and follow the highest standards of medical ethics,” Dr Gilada appealed.

He urged the centre to strictly ban the trade in Blood and Organs, making it a severely punishable crime; to make universal blood safety with required equipment as a prerequisite for starting/running blood banks; to provide guidelines to blood banks, hospitals and doctors on Blood/Organ Safety; to make cadaver transplants feasible and realistic; to review blood testing guidelines from time to time and to rehabilitate blood sellers, so they don’t sell blood/organs. He also appealed to citizens to ensure that there is a rise in voluntary blood donation, be it birthdays, marriage anniversaries and other events, and to use autologous (using one’s own blood) blood transfusion in planned surgery and tactfully question doctors’ prescription for blood, not to buy blood/organ – for their own safety.

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