Kharge slams Centre as 14 kids in UP test positive for HIV, Hepatitis after blood transfusion

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday slammed the BJP governments at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh after 14 children, who underwent blood transfusion at a state-run hospital in Kanpur, tested positive for serious diseases like HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis.

Terming the incident of infected blood being given to the children "shameful", Kharge said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was teaching big things about taking 10 resolutions, but has he ever fixed even an iota of accountability for his BJP governments.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Kharge said, "The double engine government has made our health system doubly sick. In a government hospital in Kanpur, UP, infected blood was given to 14 children suffering from thalassemia, due to which these children got serious diseases like HIV AIDS and Hepatitis B, C. This serious negligence is shameful."

"Innocent children are having to suffer the punishment for this unforgivable crime of the BJP government. Yesterday Modi ji was teaching us big things about taking 10 resolutions, has he ever fixed even an iota of accountability for his BJP governments?" Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said.

His remarks came after reports suggested that as many as 14 children have tested positive for infections like Hepatitis B, C and HIV after undergoing blood transfusions at a government-run hospital in Kanpur.

The children, aged between the ages of 6 and 16, are among the 180 thalassemic patients who received blood transfusions at the centre, reports added.