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.

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. 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.

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. According to the KSAPS, the number of infected people in this age group rose from 44,500 in 2023-24 to 66,600 by 2025-26. According to a report, more than 7,000 young people in the 18-25 group in Karnataka have been diagnosed with HIV. Reports of blood transfusion-related infections were recently reported from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh too.

Sources say that there are thalassemia-infected children in Kerala as well who were diagnosed with Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C after blood transfusion. However, they are reluctant to reveal their names. One of the HIV-infected children recently underwent a bone marrow transplant surgery in Bengaluru. Doctors say that the child will take another two years or so to test negative for HIV.

Mr. Karassery says that although the donated blood undergoes mandatory screening, many blood banks in the country still do not have access to advanced nucleic acid testing technology, which can detect infections during the window period — the time between a person getting infected with a virus and when lab tests can find it.

Letter to Nadda

In a letter to J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr. Karassery said that patients who require lifelong blood transfusions are a vulnerable group. 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. Details about blood-borne infections, their modes of transmission, and preventive steps should be introduced in the higher secondary school curriculum. 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.

Published - August 16, 2026 07:31 pm IST