26-05-2025
Iraqis demand French compensation for 1980s HIV-contaminated blood
Shafaq News/ Dozens of Iraqis gathered outside the French Embassy in Baghdad on Monday, demanding compensation for victims of HIV-contaminated blood products imported from France in the 1980s.
Protesters, many of them relatives of those infected, held signs and displayed newspaper clippings accusing the French pharmaceutical company Marion of exporting unsafe clotting treatments that led to widespread HIV transmission among patients with hemophilia and immune disorders.
Iraq's first HIV cases were recorded in 1986 after hospitals administered untested blood products. At the time, the country lacked the capacity to screen for or contain the virus, allowing it to spread unchecked among vulnerable groups.
Aisha Omar, one of the demonstrators, recalled being summoned by the Health Ministry in 1984 to collect what was considered a life-saving treatment. 'Two years later, we learned it was contaminated,' she told Shafaq News. 'Many died. Survivors faced isolation and lifelong trauma.'
Meanwhile, Abdulrahman al-Dulaimi noted that Marion had already paid settlements, amounting to $1M per person, in Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil. 'But Iraq was left out. We're demanding the same justice.'
Protesters urged the Iraqi government to formally raise the issue with French authorities and pursue reparations for affected families.
