Lack of penalty increases HIV threat

Every year, hundreds fall prey to HIV infection through blood transfusion, states the data given by National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco). However, medical experts said many infected patients do not reveal their medical condition while donating blood. But government bodies that monitor transfusion don’t have any regulations to curb such incidences.
As per a Right to Information application in possession with The Asian Age, the central government body, Naco along with Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society (MDACS) that function under it don’t have any penal provision under the blood policy. The person who filed the RTI application did not want to reveal his identity.

“We don’t have any penal provision to stop such activities. If a donor deliberately donates his infected blood, the medical expert on field won’t know about it. So, there is no way to control such activities,” said Dr Srikala Acharya, director of Mumbai State AIDS Control Society (Msacs).
“After blood test, if we find any donor positive, we dispose the blood and contact the donor for counseling. We advice such donors not to donate their blood again and take precautionary measures,” she added.
As per an RTI application filed by this reporter in 2014, around 1,000 people contracted HIV in Maharashtra through blood transfusion between 2010-14. In the same period, around 9,000 people got infected across India. The application was submitted to the health ministry that passed it on to Naco. Section Officer and CPIO (blood safety) V.K. Govil, in his reply provided data related to all states.
If a donor is detected HIV positive, the blood bank concerned contacts the donor and informs about any sero reactive result of transfusion transmitted infection, and then he is referred to Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre for further post donation confirmation and counseling. But lack of stringent provision, fails to curb such infected donations, said the RTI applicant who did not want to be named.
“Though such cases are limited it does happen when a person knowing that he is HIV positive, he deliberately donates the blood. This is most common during emergency time, when a needy family of a patient buy matching blood group in exchange of money,” he said. To meet the demand of rising blood transfusion, many hospitals are now focusing on blood exchange policy.