550 Donated Blood Units Tainted With HIV: DOH Report

DOH report on HIV-infected blood units

A report from the Department of Health (DOH) revealed that the number of HIV-infected blood units is increasing every year. According to the December 2016 HIV and Aids Registry of the Philippines (Harp) report, the DOH have detected at least 550 HIV-infected blood units last year. The increase is more than 17% compared to the data in 2015, which is 456 cases.

But the DOH assured the public that these tainted blood units were not transfused to patients. These were discarded after initial screening from blood banks. They also sent the blood samples to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for confirmatory tests.

This data is alarming since it shows that there is an increasing number of people infected with HIV in the Philippines. HIV leads to AIDS, an incurable disease up to this day. With regards to the tainted blood units, the donors may not have any knowledge that they are already infected with HIV.