HIV scare in Tripura blood banks

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HIV scare in Tripura blood banks

Indo-Asian News Service Indo-Asian News Service

Guwahati, September 8

At least 278 blood donors in India's north-eastern state of Tripura

were found to be HIV-positive, fuelling fears that blood supplied

from blood banks in the region could be infected with the killer

virus that causes AIDS.

" Appropriate methods of testing are not followed and so blood

supplied from blood banks are not considered fully safe against HIV

infection, " a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)

said.

" Of the 40 items of equipment required by blood banks, the available

items at the time of the audit ranged from four to 12. "

The CAG report followed the detection of 278 donors whose blood

tested HIV-positive during laboratory tests.

Among those whose blood samples tested HIV-positive are 189 security

personnel. The rest are civilians.

According to state health authorities, infected donors were not

informed of their HIV-positive status. They simply ordered the

incineration of the pouches containing the donated blood.

" The infected persons were not informed of their HIV infection. As a

result, 278 such persons in the state have been unknowingly

spreading the deadly disease among the state's population, " the CAG

report said.

Health officials said they only inform those who seek a report of

the laboratory tests. " Nobody came to us to collect or find out the

laboratory test reports after they donated the blood, " a senior

health official said.

The CAG report also blamed the Tripura government's AIDS Control

Society for not being able to tackle the menace due to " faulty

planning, official apathy, and lack of trained manpower " .

" The state authorities failed to utilise Rs. 10.11 million between

1998 and 2003, " the report said about the federal funds meant for

AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns provided to the state by New

Delhi.

The CAG report has sent alarm bells ringing among healthcare groups

in the region.

" If blood banks do not have adequate infrastructure for conducting

tests as mentioned in the CAG report, it could have dangerous

implications and pose a serious threat to the entire population at

large, " said S.I. Ahmed, chairman of the Assam AIDS Prevention

Society, a frontline community healthcare group in the adjoining

state of Assam.

Health experts say Tripura is vulnerable to HIV-AIDS as the state

borders Bangladesh. Tripura shares a 856-km unfenced border with

Bangladesh.

" Lack of scientific sero-surveillance is contributing to not getting

a correct picture of the enormity of the disease. A number of

truckers coming from Tripura have tested HIV-positive during drives

launched by us, " Ahmed told IANS.

India's northeast borders the heroin-producing 'Golden Triangle' of

Laos, Myanmar and Thailand and has high rates of intravenous drug

use -- a key cause of HIV infection here.

The seven states account for less than three percent of India's one

billion-plus population but are home to more than 30 percent of the

country's total intravenous drug users, according to various

estimates.

" Sharing of needles by drug users in the northeast rather than

promiscuous sex has led to a quantum increase in the number of AIDS

cases, " Ahmed said.

According to latest government estimates, the northeastern state of

Manipur accounts for nearly 8 percent of India's total 4.58 million

HIV-positive cases, whereas the state contributes just 0.02 percent

of the country's total population.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_994115,0050.htm