DHAKA: Ten Pakistani children have been infected with HIV after receiving tainted blood transfusions, officials said Thursday, in a ‘shocking’ case highlighting the abysmal state of blood screening in the country.

The children, aged from five to sixteen, all suffer from the hereditary blood disorder Thalassaemia, which requires patients to undergo regular transfusions.

Pakistan National Health Services Regulation and Coordination minister Saira Afzal Tarar slammed the case as ‘shocking’ and promised an investigation.

‘I have sought reports about the incident and I am also writing to the provincial governments about it,’ she said, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1655 HRS, DEC 04, 2014