M A I N   N E W S

85 pc blood not screened for HIV: survey
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Amritsar July 9
The Punjab State AIDS Control Society has sought a report about the clandestine activities of certain blood banks and nursing homes from various heads, Department of Transfusion Medicines, would have been collecting blood from ‘regular professional blood donors’ like rickshaw pullers, the unemployed and drug addicts.

Such donors usually suffer from various infections and their haemoglobin levels are far lower than the normal. But what is worse that they are bled without prior screening.

Many places in the holy city are being used to sell blood and the police have been making efforts to establish the link the donation of blood to the multi-crore kidney scam. The police has already confirmed reports that many agents of private blood banks visit these public places in search of professional doners.

Quoting a survey report, conducted on behalf of the Government of India, the Additional Project Director, Punjab State AIDS Control Society, gave startling facts about the pitiable conditions of commercial blood donors. Mandatory tests are rarely conducted and about 85 per cent blood has not screened for HIV. The survey report, stated that such blood banks thrived on getting blood from 4000-5000 regular professional donors in 18 or 20 major cities in the country. “Many blood banks are located in unhygienic environments and they collect and store blood in dirty conditions”.

“Commercial blood banks collect blood mostly from professional donors, a large part of whom are alcoholics and drug addicts. With indiscriminate sexual habits, they are therefore, a high-risk groups for hepatitis and HIV and are completely unfit for donate blood”.

Mentioning the commercial exploitation of such blood banks, the report stated that: The stand alone blood banks in the private sector are considered to be the root cause of trade in blood. They are perceived as exploiting, even voluntary donors, for their own commercial advantage. Unless and until drastic steps are taken to arrest the operation of these stand alone blood banks, we will not be able to stop the commercialisation in the blood banks”.

The Drug Technical Advisory Board, Ministry of Health took up this issue as an agenda item in its meeting held on April 6 to give a legal standing to the implementation of this policy directive.

Though the Amritsar police had arrested five persons red-handed while bleeding a professional donor in Gol Bath here, the nexus had been thriving in the holy city for long.