The scandal of tainted blood: we are sorry, says the government

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SPL

The government apologized for the tainted blood scandal during the public inquiry into the thousands of people infected with HIV and hepatitis.

The government legal team stated that it was clear that "things happened that should not have happened".

The survey, which began on Monday, examines how patients infected with the NHS received infected blood products during the 1970s and 1980s.

This disaster has been described as the worst disaster for the NHS.

Speaking on behalf of the UK Department of Health and Human Services and its predecessor who covered the entire UK, Eleanor Gray, said: "We are sorry. produced then that it should not have done it. "

She said the infections had had a "devastating" impact on individuals and their families, adding that the government wanted to express "its grief and regret" at the start of the investigation.

I've lost everything & # 39;

Earlier in the week, the survey had collected emotional testimonials from people infected with HIV and hepatitis.

In a video broadcast during the investigation, a man described how he felt like he had lost all his life after discovering at the age of 43 that he was infected with hepatitis C when he was a child.

He received an injection of blood products at the age of eight years for a swollen knee misdiagnosed as a hemophilia.

"I lost everything, lost all my life on the day of my discovery – it's all over," he said.

With her hidden identity, a woman reported being infected with HIV through her husband, a hemophiliac, who had received tainted blood.

She said when they discovered that they had remained stunned and devastated.

"It was in the mid-1980s and the climate of fear, discrimination and stigma associated with HIV and AIDS was horrible," she added.

"We did our best, we were silenced and we kept quiet."

Another victim, a widow, whose husband John died of AIDS in 1994 and who also suffered from hepatitis C, said: "I think we have been very badly treated, no one has listened to us over the years. years."

Blood sold by inmates

There have been previous investigations into the scandal, but this is the first public inquiry at the UK level that can compel witnesses to testify.

It comes after decades of campaigning by victims, who say the risks were never explained and the scandal was later hidden.

About 5,000 people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders reportedly became infected with the HIV and hepatitis virus over a period of more than 20 years – about 2,500 people died. between them have since passed away.

They were injected with blood products to help their blood clot.

But as the United Kingdom strived to meet the demand, it began to import products from the United States.

Part of the human blood plasma used to make the product comes from donors such as prisoners who sold their blood.

People who have had blood transfusions have also been exposed to tainted blood – up to 30,000 people may have become infected.

By the mid-1980s, products began to undergo heat treatment to kill viruses and, by the late 1990s, synthetic treatments for hemophilia became available, eliminating the risk of infection .

The investigation is expected to last two years.