RANCHI: A statewide crackdown on Jharkhand's healthcare system - blood banks in particular - is under way after six children with thalassaemia tested HIV positive following transfusions at a govt hospital whose blood bank had been operating without a valid licence since 2023.
A 10-year-old boy with thalassemia was the sixth child to test positive for HIV, with reports on Sunday stating he was infected at Koderma Sadar Hospital.
The previous five children - aged between six and 10 - received transfusions at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital in West Singhbhum on Sept 3. The health department is tracing 256 blood donors linked to the hospital. A six-member panel is probing how untested or infected blood entered the system despite mandatory screening protocols. Civil surgeons in all 24 districts have also been told to submit audit reports of blood banks in their jurisdictions by Saturday.
The infections have highlighted gross irregularities in blood banks across the state. CM Hemant Soren last week suspended two top West Singhbhum health officials and announced assistance of Rs 2 lakh for each of the five affected children. Three days ago, Jharkhand HC rapped the state govt for not following standard operating procedures in blood transfusions.
Jiten (name changed) was already weak when his parents brought him to the hospital for a routine transfusion. He had all the classic symptoms - shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness. Thalassaemia is a disease without illusions - chronic, exhaustive and, for families without means, unforgiving. But they expected him to come out of hospital the same way he had gone in - ill, but no worse. Instead, days later, their son tested positive for HIV. He had received no treatment outside Chaibasa.
Soon, four more children - all regular recipients of transfusions at the same facility - also tested HIV-positive. They had come for blood. What they got was a lifelong infection. The five - one from Seraikela-Kharsawan and four from West Singhbhum - are now undergoing treatment at the ART (antiretroviral therapy) centre in Chaibasa. "We are already facing hardships due to poverty and can only depend on the govt hospital," said the father of one infected child."We have only one child, and we brought him there for treatment, but they seem to have plans to end his life."
What began as a medical crisis has since exposed a staggering administrative collapse. The hospital's blood bank had been operating without a valid licence since 2023. "The renewal process is underway, but to be exact with the date, I need to check records," said Bharti Minz, the newly appointed civil surgeon, who took over after Soren suspended civil surgeon Dr Sushanto Majhee and medical officer in-charge Dr Dinesh Sawaiyan.
In Koderma, the 10-year-old had been undergoing blood transfusions at the govt hospital for nine years as part of his treatment for thalassemia. While he is suspected to have contracted HIV during one of the sessions, he tested positive only late last month at Ranchi's state-run RIMS hospital when he was taken there for a spleen operation. The surgery was dropped after his HIV report. The child's father, a barber, expressed disbelief, saying no one else in their family had tested positive for HIV before.
Koderma civil surgeon Dr Anil Kumar confirmed the boy was treated at Sadar Hospital but was silent on the quality of blood given to him, admitting only that a previous HIV screening was based on a "less reliable kit method". Thalassemia patients only contract HIV if exposed to the virus through an external source, indicating a high probability of contaminated blood transfusions and a wider systemic failure.
Since Saturday, the more rigorous ELISA test (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) for HIV detection has been started, Kumar said, adding all other 23 thalassemia patients in the district are being tested. He insisted that all blood safety guidelines and protocols were "now being strictly adhered to" to plug any loopholes. Jharkhand additional chief secretary of health Ajoy Kumar Singh has ordered an audit of blood banks.
This is not Jharkhand's first such case. In 2018, seven children in Ranchi contracted HIV from transfused blood. Activists say it was never thoroughly investigated, nor did it trigger systemic course correction. "The state relies too heavily on paid donors," said Atul Gera, founder of Life Savers-Ranchi.
A 10-year-old boy with thalassemia was the sixth child to test positive for HIV, with reports on Sunday stating he was infected at Koderma Sadar Hospital.
The previous five children - aged between six and 10 - received transfusions at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital in West Singhbhum on Sept 3. The health department is tracing 256 blood donors linked to the hospital. A six-member panel is probing how untested or infected blood entered the system despite mandatory screening protocols. Civil surgeons in all 24 districts have also been told to submit audit reports of blood banks in their jurisdictions by Saturday.
The infections have highlighted gross irregularities in blood banks across the state. CM Hemant Soren last week suspended two top West Singhbhum health officials and announced assistance of Rs 2 lakh for each of the five affected children. Three days ago, Jharkhand HC rapped the state govt for not following standard operating procedures in blood transfusions.
Jiten (name changed) was already weak when his parents brought him to the hospital for a routine transfusion. He had all the classic symptoms - shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness. Thalassaemia is a disease without illusions - chronic, exhaustive and, for families without means, unforgiving. But they expected him to come out of hospital the same way he had gone in - ill, but no worse. Instead, days later, their son tested positive for HIV. He had received no treatment outside Chaibasa.
Soon, four more children - all regular recipients of transfusions at the same facility - also tested HIV-positive. They had come for blood. What they got was a lifelong infection. The five - one from Seraikela-Kharsawan and four from West Singhbhum - are now undergoing treatment at the ART (antiretroviral therapy) centre in Chaibasa. "We are already facing hardships due to poverty and can only depend on the govt hospital," said the father of one infected child."We have only one child, and we brought him there for treatment, but they seem to have plans to end his life."
What began as a medical crisis has since exposed a staggering administrative collapse. The hospital's blood bank had been operating without a valid licence since 2023. "The renewal process is underway, but to be exact with the date, I need to check records," said Bharti Minz, the newly appointed civil surgeon, who took over after Soren suspended civil surgeon Dr Sushanto Majhee and medical officer in-charge Dr Dinesh Sawaiyan.
In Koderma, the 10-year-old had been undergoing blood transfusions at the govt hospital for nine years as part of his treatment for thalassemia. While he is suspected to have contracted HIV during one of the sessions, he tested positive only late last month at Ranchi's state-run RIMS hospital when he was taken there for a spleen operation. The surgery was dropped after his HIV report. The child's father, a barber, expressed disbelief, saying no one else in their family had tested positive for HIV before.
Koderma civil surgeon Dr Anil Kumar confirmed the boy was treated at Sadar Hospital but was silent on the quality of blood given to him, admitting only that a previous HIV screening was based on a "less reliable kit method". Thalassemia patients only contract HIV if exposed to the virus through an external source, indicating a high probability of contaminated blood transfusions and a wider systemic failure.
Since Saturday, the more rigorous ELISA test (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) for HIV detection has been started, Kumar said, adding all other 23 thalassemia patients in the district are being tested. He insisted that all blood safety guidelines and protocols were "now being strictly adhered to" to plug any loopholes. Jharkhand additional chief secretary of health Ajoy Kumar Singh has ordered an audit of blood banks.
This is not Jharkhand's first such case. In 2018, seven children in Ranchi contracted HIV from transfused blood. Activists say it was never thoroughly investigated, nor did it trigger systemic course correction. "The state relies too heavily on paid donors," said Atul Gera, founder of Life Savers-Ranchi.
You may also like
RaKai's Halloween costume controversy: What really happened during the livestream?
Sweet sixteen as Aoife Kelly trumps rivals to win Sharjah Ladies Open title in style
Muslim convert found guilty of planning 'atrocity' terror attack
Fantasist Farage plays Thatcher or Attlee depending on which room he's in
Is the egg good or bad? Check it this way, otherwise it will cause liver disease
