In the past 10 years, as many as 2,506 people in Maharashtra have been infected with HIV during blood transfusions. As per data procured through Right to Information (RTI), in 2018, Maharashtra recorded the fourth highest cases of people infected with HIV through blood transfusions in the country. Activists say that this again raises the need to introduce NAT (Nucleic Acid Test), as the current blood testing procedure with ELISA has a long window period, which often fails to detect the antibodies produced after HIV infection.

In 2008, the state recorded 373 HIV positive cases and was second after Gujarat with 592 cases. In 2010, 182 cases were detected while in 2015, 173 cases were detected. There were 190 cases registered in 2017. In 2018, the state registered 169 cases, making it the fourth state in India with highest number of cases after Uttar Pradesh (241), West Bengal (176) and Delhi (172).