Pregnant woman given HIV infected blood in Tamil Nadu government hospital
Virudhunagar (TN), Dec 26 : A 24-year-old pregnant woman from this district contracted HIV after receiving blood donated by an infected man, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to review the stocks in all blood banks of the state to ensure they were free of the deadly virus.
An employee of a blood bank attached to a government hospital in Sattur, near here, has been dismissed, while two others have been suspended in connection with the incident, health department officials said on Wednesday.
The state government said it was making all efforts to prevent the impact of the virus on the woman, and stocks in all blood banks would be reviewed to ensure that such incidents did not recur.
Joint Director of Health Services, Virudhunagar, R Manoharan told PTI the woman was admitted to a private hospital in Sattur for the birth of her second child and the doctors advised her to have a blood transfusion citing haemoglobin deficiency.
Blood brought from a blood bank was transfused to her. It later emerged that the donor was HIV positive, the official said, adding the recipient's blood was also tested, which confirmed that she too had got infected by the virus.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the blood bank staff had failed to screen the blood properly before supplying it to the private hospital. The personnel who tested the donor's blood had labelled it 'safe,' officials said.
State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said action has been taken against the erring employees of the blood bank the district collector has also expressed 'regret', apparently to the family, through the revenue divisional officer.
"The government is taking steps to prevent the impact of HIV on that women with the help of technology. All stocks in blood banks will be analysed to ensure they are HIV-free," he told reporters in Chennai.
Meanwhile, the woman and her husband lodged a complaint with Sattur police Wednesday seeking action against the doctors, nurses and employees of the blood bank.
Speaking to reporters, the woman's husband held the Tamil Nadu government responsible for the incident and demanded that it provides the best treatment to her. The husband said that he does not want any job from the government but only the best treatment for his wife.
Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan visited the district and spoke to the woman.
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Kolkata Port: Decline in number of voters during SIR brings in uncertainty in TMC bastion
Kolkata (PTI): A sharp decline in the number of voters following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has injected an element of uncertainty into the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency, considered a safe seat for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The electorate in the south Kolkata constituency has dropped from 2.36 lakh in the 2021 Assembly polls to around 1.75 lakh, a fall of nearly 26 per cent, prompting political parties to closely assess its potential impact on the April 29 polling.
The TMC re-nominated senior minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who has held the seat for two consecutive terms, while the BJP fielded Rakesh Singh. The Congress nominated Aquib Gulzar, and the CPI(M) put up Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, making it a four-cornered contest.
Kolkata Port, part of the Kolkata Dakshin parliamentary constituency, comprises dock areas, old business districts and densely populated neighbourhoods. Muslim voters form a significant segment of the electorate, alongside traders, transport workers and working-class Hindu families.
The reduction in voter numbers has prompted party workers across formations to scrutinise the revised rolls booth-wise to identify deletions and assess whether specific localities have been affected.
Singh’s candidature has added a twist to the contest. He had earlier contested against Hakim as a Congress candidate but is now in the fray on a BJP ticket.
Hakim won the seat in 2016 by 26,548 votes, defeating Singh, and increased his margin significantly to 68,554 votes in 2021, polling over one lakh votes.
While the TMC has expressed confidence in retaining the seat, opposition parties have raised concerns over the voter list revision, alleging that names of genuine voters have been removed.
“People here know who has stood by them. Elections are decided by trust,” Hakim told PTI during a campaign event.
Singh claimed several residents had complained about missing names in the rolls, stressing the need for transparency. The CPI(M) nominee also said voters in several areas had raised similar concerns.
The constituency has remained a difficult terrain for the opposition in recent elections.
Civic issues such as sanitation, traffic congestion and declining business activity in traditional markets also feature in the campaign in the constituency, though the revised voter list has emerged as a key talking point.
Polling in the constituency will be held in the second phase on April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
