A four-year-old girl has died from AIDS-related complications after allegedly receiving contaminated blood at a medical facility in Basra, whilst a 14-year-old boy has also been infected with the disease, local Baghdad Alyoum reported on October 5.

This death appears to be a growing issue in the country, which has historically low rates of blood donations and has relied on the Iraqi National Centre for Blood Donation (INCBD) for blood transfusions and collections, according to a previous document by the WHO.

It is currently unknown if these were paid blood donations, which has been the case of some infections of HIV and AIDS related diseases in other countries. 

Mahdi al-Tamimi, director of the Human Rights Commission office, confirmed the girl's death resulted from complications of AIDS infection.

She contracted the disease after receiving contaminated blood at a currently unnamed healthcare institution in Basra.

Al-Tamimi said that a 14-year-old boy has also been infected with the same contaminated blood, raising concern across the city of infected batches of blood being sent to different hospitals.

The case has sparked widespread debate about the state of health services in the province, prompting the Human Rights Commission to intervene and stress the necessity of conducting a comprehensive investigation to uncover the circumstances of the incident and ensure the safety of medical procedures.

"The commission is following this file closely and is keen on reaching the truth within the framework of its concern for the lives of citizens in Basra and monitoring all issues related to their constitutional rights," al-Tamimi said.

Donors in Iraq are generally expected to be in good health, though specific national criteria are still being standardised due to ongoing challenges in the blood transfusion system.

Currently, due to the state of destruction of institutions due to years of war and emigration, formal guidelines are still being developed.

Donors are typically required to be at least 18 years old and weigh a minimum of 50 kg (approximately 110 pounds) to donate 450 ml of blood, consistent with regional standards.

Iraq officially maintains a low HIV prevalence rate of 0.1% among adults aged 15–49, with an estimated 3,400 people living with the virus nationwide as of 2022, according to World Bank and UNAIDS data.