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Activists say it's time to find out the truth about the tainted blood scandal that has left nearly 3,000 dead, at the start of the public inquiry.
The survey examines how thousands of NHS patients received blood products infected with hepatitis and HIV in the 1970s and 1980s.
Many concerned said they did not know about the risks and were concealed.
It is the first public inquiry on the scale of the United Kingdom on the scandal and witnesses may be compelled to testify.
Liz Carroll, executive director of The Haemophilia Society, said she needed to work diligently to "discover the truth, bring justice and, ultimately, end justice for the victims and their families."
"This scandal has devastated generations of people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
"Our members have been waiting decades for this to be the subject of an appropriate investigation."
A brief history of the tainted blood scandal
Approximately 5,000 people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders have been infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses for more than 20 years.
This is because they have been injected with blood products to help their blood clot.
This was a new treatment introduced in the early 1970s. Previously, patients were faced with long stays in the hospital to undergo transfusions, even for minor injuries.
Britain was struggling to meet the demand for treatment – known as the factor VIII clotting agent – and supplies were therefore imported from the United States.
But much of the human blood plasma used to make the product comes from donors such as prisoners, who sold their blood.
Blood products were made by pooling plasma from up to 40,000 donors and concentrating it.
People who have had blood transfusions have also been exposed to tainted blood – up to 30,000 people may have become infected.
In the mid-1980s, products began to be heat-treated to kill viruses.
But questions remain about what was known before and why some contaminated products remained in circulation.
Screening for blood products began in 1991 and by the late 1990s, synthetic treatments for hemophilia were developed, eliminating the risk of infection.
"We were betrayed and lied"
Steve Dymond is now in his early sixties. He had only mild symptoms of hemophilia and led an active life.
In the 1980s, her health began to suffer. His muscles were sore, his joints aching and he was still exhausted.
After going to the hospital as a result of a slight hand injury in the mid-1980s, he was told that he had been treated with factor VIII who had not heat treated
The concern was that he might have been exposed to HIV.
At that time, it took 18 months to get a diagnosis – an expectation that his wife, Su Gorman, said "put their lives on hold".
He was given the clear, but in the 1990s was diagnosed with hepatitis C.
He is no longer suffering from hepatitis C, although his health continues to suffer.
Two years ago, he suffered a near-fatal stomach hemorrhage, suffered a hearing loss and a damaged liver, exposing him to a risk of cancer.
He said people have been "betrayed and lied" everywhere, with the government, health professionals and pharmaceutical companies all guilty of trying to avoid liability.
"It's hard to imagine – even if there's a public inquiry – how they can overcome these barriers," Dymond said.
Why an inquiry now?
The government has been strongly criticized for dragging its heels.
There have been previous investigations. One of them was led by Lord Archer of Sandwell, Labor Party counterpart, and financed by private funds.
She had no official status and was unable to compel witnesses to testify or to force the disclosure of documents.
In addition, a seven-year investigation launched by the Scottish Government was criticized as money laundering when it was published in 2015.
The Mayor of Manchester and former Health Secretary Andy Burnham has repeatedly called for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into what happened.
Mr. Burnham said he was ready to contact the police about the matter.
Mr. Burnham testified in the House of Commons last year that a "criminal concealment on an industrial scale" had occurred.
The government has announced that there would be an investigation only after a possible defeat in a vote on an emergency motion.
And after?
The investigation could last more than two years.
Payments were made to some infected people – the first fund was established in 1989.
But if the new investigation leads to guilt, it opens the door for victims who seek significant compensation through the courts.
Sir Brian Langstaff, who is conducting the investigation, said Monday was the beginning of something many people had been campaigning for several years.
He said that more than 100,000 documents had already been submitted, with the prospect of many more to come.
"There will also be hundreds of witness statements, and I am grateful for each contribution.
"But you still have to add those who have knowledge, documents, and their own accounts, and I know that overcoming the past can be difficult, but I encourage them to come forward."
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