Filtered By: Topstories
News

Pinoy linked to AIDS-tainted blood donation mess in Saudi Arabia


MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino national has been tagged as the source of AIDS-contaminated blood in a transfusion controversy in Saudi Arabia, an online news site reported. Jeddah-based news site Arab News said investigators linked the contaminated blood to an unidentified Filipino man, who has already left the country. Recipients of his blood included a three-year-old girl who got his blood when she was still a baby, and two elderly people who died after receiving his blood, the report said. The medical disputes board at the Ministry of Health has ordered a private hospital in Jeddah to pay SR280,000 (P3,603,498) in compensation to the family of the girl. The board also fined the hospital, which has not been named in the report, SR100,000 (P1,286,963) for serious medical negligence. Citing a report from Al Madinah newspaper, Arab News said the girl had been mistakenly transfused blood contaminated with AIDS when she was eight months old. Investigation showed the girl was supplied with the blood after developing complications related to anemia. The hospital’s pediatrician had recommended immediate blood transfusion, after which her condition worsened. An investigation showed the blood was contaminated with AIDS. On the parents’ insistence, the board launched an investigation, which revealed that a Filipino man had donated the blood. An investigation showed the child’s sensory organs, urinary tract and rectum were impaired because of the contaminated blood. During the investigation, it was learned that two elderly people also died shortly after receiving blood from the same donor. The cause of their deaths remained a mystery until the investigation, which found out that the Filipino had also donated blood at two other hospitals in Jeddah. Efforts to locate the donor were fruitless. But the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh told GMANews.TV that they have not received any information about the incident. They also did not confirm if a Filipino found positive for AIDS has been doing the rounds in blood banks. Consul Romulo Israel Jr. said blood donation has become a source of income for some Filipino and other expatriate workers who want to make both ends meet in the oil-rich kingdom. While some Filipino volunteers regularly donate blood, particularly to the Red Crescent in Saudi Arabia, selling has become an attractive option because hospitals buy blood at a good price. “They also donate organs when they die and sell them by as much as SR50,000 [roughly 641,225.45]," Israel said. Figures from the Ministry of Health showed 1,315 people in Saudi Arabia died of AIDS until 2008 out of a total of 13,926 cases diagnosed in the Kingdom. More than 10,500 of the cases were foreigners. Under the law, foreigners who test HIV-positive are not allowed to work in the Kingdom. - with Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV
LOADING CONTENT