Deepak Chopra, Mentor, Thalassemia Patients Advocacy Group (TPAG), said, “The tragic case in Jharkhand, where children with thalassemia reportedly contracted HIV through blood transfusions, is not just a breach of protocol; it is a stark reminder of how preventable failures persist when governance weakens, and public health takes a backseat.”
“Transfusion-transmitted infections remain a persistent threat, and continuing to rely on outdated screening methods is no longer acceptable,” he added.
Prof. NK Ganguly, former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), stressed that safe blood is not a privilege; it is a right.
“Patients must be educated, empowered, and encouraged to demand it, systems must be equipped to deliver it, and policymakers must uphold transparency and accountability as non-negotiable pillars of blood service governance.”
He said the best way forward is to carry out public awareness campaigns to encourage voluntary donation while educating citizens about the risks of unsafe blood, the importance of advanced testing technologies like Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) and their right to access blood that meets the highest safety standards.
“NAT enables the earliest detection of infections, including HIV, HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) and HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) and other transfusion-transmitted infections even during the window period, thus drastically reducing risk and creating a triple benefit that protects patients, empowers providers, and strengthens India’s public health and productivity,” Prof. Ganguly told TNIE.
Dr Gilada, who is a Governing Council Member and Focal Point for Asia-Pacific, International AIDS Society, explained that a wider window period up to 12 weeks with conventional HIV screening tests that are routinely used in blood banks allows some contaminated blood to be transfused.
“This isn’t a human error but a policy and management issue,” he said. “Plan and start using NAAT-based HIV screening at all the blood banks. To reduce the cost per test, pooling of samples can be used with a pool of 5 or 10 samples, which can reduce cost by 75 to 90%, as our national HIV prevalence is still around 0.2%,” he added.
