Assam govt follows guidelines to prevent AIDS: Gauhati HC

The Gauhati High Court today after hearing a suo-motu Public Interest Litigation asked the Assam government to strictly follow the directions and guidelines passed on an earlier PIL for prevention and control of AIDS.
A division bench of the Court comprising Justice S K Sreedhar Rao and B D Agarwal directed the government to follow the directions and guidelines passed in the judgement of September 26, 2000 in earlier PIL (Civil Rule no. 3984/1996).
The bench also directed for implementation of the guidelines formulated by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and the government to submit its compliance report within a week.

Wanting the state authority to close those blood banks operating in the state without valid license, the bench directed that a State Transfusion Council be established to regulate the affairs of the blood banks ensuring that all WHO prescribed mandatory tests before transfusion are carried out.
The Court also ordered that the the state government will provide life-long free medical treatment to the five persons tested HIV positive in Mongoldoi Civil Hospital.
The Court had suo-motu registered PIL No. 50/13 following media reports about five persons testing positive in June this year after receiving HIV positive blood from the blood bank of Mongoldoi Civil Hospital in the state.

Stating the incident also raised a question mark on the reliability of blood banks in government hospitals, the Court referred to media reports that the blood bank at Mongoldoi hospital did not maintain proper records of donors and recipients, which points to shocking irresponsibility and a serious lapse on the part of the blood bank officials.