A woman from Homa Bay is seeking justice after she was allegedly given HIV-infected blood during blood transfusion at the Sigowet Sub-County Hospital in Kericho in February.
Lilian Atieno, 31, says that she was taken to the hospital and admitted in February, after being diagnosed with low haemoglobin levels and then pregnant with her fourth child.
She says that she was discharged three days later, but would realise the harm in April when she learnt that she had contracted the virus.
This, she realised, during a routine test, after giving birth at the Rachuonyo Level Four Hospital in Homa Bay.
"The doctors told me the likely way I could have been infected was through the blood transfusion I had gotten the previous week and they even contacted Sigowet Hospital to question what could have transpired," she told the People Daily.
She then reported the botched transfusion at Sondu Police Station, but on returning to Sigowet, the lead doctor, one Dr Langat, allegedly termed the incident a 'mere' accident.
However, the hospital's laboratory manager James Cheruiyot dismissed Atieno's allegations, saying that though the hospital does not screen blood, the blood comes after being screened at the Nakuru blood bank.
"But we know blood is screened before being transfused to any sick person at any blood bank centre. It is not true the hospital gives contaminated blood to anyone requiring the blood," Cheruiyot said.
Atieno has since joined her mother in Nairobi as she seeks justice for the mess which she says has now condemned her to daily Anti-retroviral pills.
“My life has been ruined because of this incident. No one should have to suffer from what I am going through. I trusted the government hospital, but I am now trauma-afflicted," she says.