Jungadh, Gujarat:
In what is being alleged as a case of medical negligence, 23 thalassemic children have tested positive for HIV at the Junagadh civil hospital in Gujarat allegedly after blood transfusion.
Parents allege that their children contracted the virus during blood transfusion at the hospital, but the authorities claim that the children were undergoing blood transfusion from other sources as well.
This is the second such case in a year in India. It happened in Jaipur last year but who is to blame? Yet again, we may never know. The hospital has said it did nothing wrong.
"Initially, it was very stressful. We would say 'why us?' Then we came to Delhi and met other such people and realised we weren't alone in this," said the father of a thalassemic child.
The disease calls for blood infusion every 15 days throughout life and the risk of infections runs high.
"Fear is always in our mind when the child goes out to play. What if he falls and starts bleeding? When the packet comes, we can only pray. We don't know what is in the packet. It's very difficult to get packets. You have to stand in line for two days there and then your turn comes," said the mother.
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder but screening procedures can be lax and the repercussions enormous. And to add to that is the acute shortage of blood in the country.
"I request everyone to ask their relatives and friends over 18 years of age to donate blood so that we can get good blood and recover faster," said a thalassemic patient.