Kerala Blood Banks Face Calls for Advanced Infection Screening Systems
· India · The Hindu, Indian Express
The Blood Patients Protection Council in Kerala has demanded the installation of advanced screening systems in all government and private blood banks across the state. This request follows reports of rising HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C infections among college students in various parts of India. Organizations representing patients with blood disorders, such as thalassemia and hemophilia, expressed concern over the safety of blood donations from the student demographic. Data from the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society indicates that HIV cases among the 18-35 age group in Karnataka rose from 44,500 in 2023-24 to 66,600 by 2025-26. Similar reports of transfusion-related infections have also emerged from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
Why it matters
The demand directly impacts thousands of patients in Kerala who rely on regular blood transfusions for survival, as current screening methods may not be sufficient to detect emerging infection trends in donor groups.
Read the original report — The Hindu
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