Henan Blood Banks Spread HIV

In the mid-to-late 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people in central China sold blood or plasma to local government-run and private collection centers. Workers sometimes pooled donations, removed the plasma, and reinfused mixed red blood cells while reusing needles or poorly sterilized equipment. These unsafe practices rapidly spread HIV among rural donors, particularly in Henan Province. By 2001, campaigners believed that more than 500,000 people may have been infected, although the true scale remained uncertain.

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