From 2021 to 2022, Maharashtra witnessed a four times rise in the number of people contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through transfusion of blood and blood products, revealed a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by activist Chetan Kothari. The data corresponds to the period till July in both the years.
According to the statistics, 272 people in the state contracted HIV through blood in 2022 compared to 68 in 2021 and 49 in 2020. From 2017 to 2022 (till July), the state reported a total of 1,010 HIV infections.
Experts say fundamental problem in testing blood for HIV
Experts said that the fundamental problem is the fact that HIV in most blood banks is still tested through an enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay test (ELISA) which has an innate shortcoming. Dr Ishwar Gilada, AIDS Society of India President Emeritus and Governing Council Member International AIDS Society-IAS, Geneva, said any HIV infection through blood transfusion in the era of such well-developed science is criminal. The percentage and probability of HIV transmission from contaminated blood can be reduced to miniscule levels by using NAAT – nucleic acid amplification test – on donor's blood. The test can show the possibility of HIV in blood to the accuracy of three days; meaning it can detect the infection even if the donor was exposed to HIV just three days back.
“We were, too, COVID-centric,” he said when queried about more HIV cases in 2022 than earlier two years. Dr Gilada further added that to reduce the cost of screening tests using NAAT, they have consistently asked the government to opt for pool testing of five or even 10 samples together. Consequently, cost will then be lower than conventional ELISA or EIA tests.
Supreme Court mandated HIV screening in all blood banks in 1998
“Even blood safety started in Maharashtra only after my criminal writ petition in the Bombay High Court in 1989 that was against Serum Institute of India, Associated Labs, Bharat Serums and 15 blood banks in Mumbai and Thane. Back then, hundreds of professional blood donors were detected HIV positive by me. After nine years (of legal battle), the Supreme Court in 1998 mandated HIV screening in all blood banks of India,” Dr Gilada recalled.
A senior doctor working in a government blood bank said “The data is based on self-reporting, but still HIV transmission through blood transfusion is still a reality. There are two aspects: Blood banks should introduce superior testing like NAAT and that, too, at an affordable price. Secondly, the history of donors must be analysed properly, including questions like multiple sexual partners or intercourse with a sex worker, tattoo body piercing from local shops etc. At times, a single doctor takes the history of 300-500 donors in three-four hours. Government must focus on such avoidable reasons.”
