A demand has been made to install advanced screening systems in government and private blood banks in Kerala in the wake of reports about the spread of HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C infections among college students in some parts of the country.
Reports of blood transfusion-related infections were recently reported from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh too. Organisations working for the welfare of patients suffering from blood disorders in the State point out that blood banks across India have relied heavily on voluntary blood donations from college students, considering them one of the safest donor groups for many years. Thousands of patients suffering from thalassemia, sickle cell disease, haemophilia, aplastic anaemia, leukaemia, and other blood disorders depend on regular blood transfusions for their survival. The Collegiate Education Department and Visvesvaraya Technological University in Karnataka recently took steps to conduct integrated health camp for HIV testing and counselling for students in all engineering and degree colleges based on a request from the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS).
This followed reports about the rapid spread of HIV infection among youth in the 18-35 age group there. The number of infected people in this age group rose from 44,500 in 2023-24 to 66,600 by 2025-26, according to the KSAPS. More than 7,000 young people in the 18-25 group in Karnataka have been diagnosed with HIV, according to a report.
However, reports about the increasing prevalence of viral infections among young donors has turned out to be a cause for concern, says Kareem Karassery, president of the Blood Patients Protection Council, Kerala.
Details about blood-borne infections, their modes of transmission, and preventive steps should be introduced in the higher secondary school curriculum. In a letter to J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr. He urged the Centre to launch a nationwide awareness campaign on the prevention of HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, with special focus on adolescents and college students. NAT screening facilities should be set up in government and private blood banks across the country. Also, a national policy should be developed to provide adequate financial compensation, lifelong medical care, and rehabilitation support to patients who contract infections through blood transfusions.
Karassery said that patients who require lifelong blood transfusions are a vulnerable group.
