Around 2234 Indians infected with HIV after blood transfusion: Report

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Around 2234 people in the country have been infected with the deadly disease human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while tranfusing the blood in the past 17 months.

According to a report in The Hindu, 'Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum occurrence of 361 cases due to unsafe blood transfusion practices in hospitals.'

The other leading States where patients have been transfused unsafe blood are Gujarat with 292 cases, Maharashtra with 276 and Delhi with 264 cases.

In response to a Right to Information query by activist Chetan Kothari, the data was revealed by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) as reported.

“The government has been slackening on raising AIDS awareness due to budget cuts. Cases like these keep happening over and over again and no action is taken against erring hospitals and blood banks. This is an extremely serious issue, and the government needs to address it urgently,” activist Chetan Kothari,who filed the RTI query was quoted as saying.

As per NACO’s 2015 annual report, around 20.9 lakh Indians were living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIVs) in 2011.