10 Children Contract HIV From Tainted Blood In Pakistan, Unregistered Blood Banks Common
Tainted blood is to blame for 10 children contracting HIV in Pakistan. All of the children were suffering from a blood disorder known as Thalassemia, The disorder required the children to receive regular blood transfusions. However, thanks to tainted blood, the children are now battling two life-threatening illnesses.
The IB Times reports that health officials know that all of the children come from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahor. However, health officials have not identified which blood banks provided the tainted blood. Many are noting that this tainted blood case shows the serious issues in Pakistan regarding blood bank testing.
Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination, said she is seeking reports about the incident to identify where the blood banks went wrong and to prevent this issue in the future. Additionally, Akram, vice-chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), says the people responsible or neglectful should be punished.
“The people responsible should be punished and punished very severely.”
The Pakistan Daily Times had a lot to say about the incident noting the health system in Pakistan is in need of a major overhaul.
“The whole incident has highlighted the fact that there are huge gaping holes in the procedures required to ensure that patients receive properly screened blood. These are precious human lives, already facing misery because of their condition, and look how we take care of them. Our healthcare system is in a shoddy mess.”
The Daily Times fears that the tainted blood incident will keep sick people from seeking care for fear of bad blood. Something the report notes could be devastating. Though all 10 children have been infected with HIV from the tainted blood, HIV is not prevalent in Pakistan. In fact, only 0.5 percent of the population suffers from the disease.
In response to the incident, the Hussaini Blood Bank in the southern metropolis of Karachi, offered the children subsidized rates for screening blood samples for HIV. However, is that enough? Shouldn’t the screenings have taken place before the blood was given in the first place? Why was the tainted blood allowed to make it all the way to the patients without proper testing?
Likewise, a woman recently contracted HIV from a manicure she received in which equipment was not properly sanitized.
These are the questions that health officials in Pakistan will be reviewing to make sure incidents like this do not occur in the future. There is no word currently on any measures taken to verify the current blood in banks is safe for use.
