Times of India
11 November 2011
Ahmedabad India

The Gujarat high court has sought explanation from various state and central agencies in connection with the incident where 23 thalassaemic children in Junagadh district were tested HIV positive in the last one year due to transfusion of infected blood.

Acting on a PIL filed by advocate Girish Das demanding investigation into the issue and compensation for the affected, a division bench has asked the additional secretary of National AIDS Control Organisation, Drug Controller of India, director of Gujarat State Council for Blood Transfusion, the state health department and Junagadh police to file their replies within a month.

Das has alleged that the children contracted the deadly virus due to criminal negligence on part of administration and demanded that the culprits be booked. He has sought a thorough investigation and demanded compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each kid tested HIV positive.

Times of India
11 November 2011
Jaipur India

Landlord, Neighbours Agree To Keep Children At House After Officials Intervene
TIMES IMPACT

A day after TOI reported the eviction of HIV positive children from a rented accommodation in Hanuman Nagar, officials of the district administration and the health department on Thursday visited the place and ensured that they retained their home.

The officials convinced the people living in the neighbourhood and the landlord to allow the HIV positive children to stay in the present accommodation.

The district administration team reached the Aanchal Care Home early morning and counselled residents of the area. After the team left, Rajasthan Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (RNP+) president Brijesh Dubey said, “ every problem has been resolved. We can live here at the present accommodation. We have an agreement for two years. The landlord is also helping us a lot.”

He said that the visit by the district administration officials and the medical and health department made the difference. As the district administration interfere into the matter and resolved the issue, smiles are back on the faces of the HIV positive children.

Earlier, RNP+ had written in an e–mail which was sent to TOI on Wednesday stated, “Just after six days of stay in the present home at Bharat Marg, Hanuman Nagar, the house owner forced the children to vacate the house with immediate effect due to pressure from neighboring people.” They had also met district collector Navin Mahajan asking him for a solution of the issue.

Times of India
10 November 2011
Jaipur India

Says Action Taken Due To Pressure from Neighbours

A group of 19 HIV positive children, most of whom have lost their parents to the disease or have been thrown out of their homes by close relatives, have more miseries to face.

The landlord of Aanchal Care Home, where the children live, has asked them to vacate due to pressure from neighbours. Looking into the matter, district collector Navin Mahajan on Wednesday constituted a team of district administration officials and policemen to counsel the people living nearby, who do not want these children in their locality.

The children had shifted from Jagatpura to the care home at Bharat Marg, Hanuman Nagar on Khatipura Road on November 3, 2011. But, within a week, they were asked to leave. These children, in the age group 4 to 14 years, have come to Jaipur from various districts.

“The house owner forced the children to vacate with immediate effect because they are HIV positive,” Brijesh Dubey, presdent of Rajasthan Network For People Living With HIV/AIDS, said.

“It is a violation of human rights and discrimination against them for we were asked to move them out of the house for their being HIVpositive,” Dubey said.

“He asked us to come to the care home and when we reached there he told us the children should leave the place immediately. When we sought the reason, he replied that they could not live here because the people in neighbourhood strongly oppose it and have filed a complaint with the society president.”

Hindustan Times
02 November 2011
Mumbai India

The Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society (MDACS), on Tuesday, transferred two employees working in a civic-run hospital in Ghatkopar for wrongly tagging a blood report of a person as HIV positive. Shamal Vaidaya, a laboratory technician and Suresh Gavit, a counsellor, working at Sant Muktabai Hospital have been transferred to Savarkar Hospital in Mulund, and Rajawadi Hospital respectively, with a strict warning.

On September 26, Saki Naka resident Mahendra Mishra was handed an HIV positive report after a blood test at the hospital. However, subsequent tests at private laboratories did not detect any presence of HIV.

As per the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) guidelines, when a person who does not fall in the high-risk category tests positive for HIV, it is mandatory to repeat the HIV test by taking a fresh blood sample. “Our inquiry revealed the second test was not done, and an HIV positive report was given to the patient,” said Dr S Kudalkar, project director of MDACS.

Dr Kudalkar pointed out a possibility of the blood sample getting contaminated, leading to a HIV positive report. The MDACS has issued instructions to ensure that workers at the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) follow the guidelines strictly.