London
British Prime Minister David Cameron apologised yesterday to thousands of people who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being treated for unrelated conditions with contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s.
Survivors and relatives of people who died after being infected through blood therapies or transfusions have campaigned for years for information about what happened, compensation and for anyone responsible for mistakes to be held accountable.
Many of those infected were haemophiliacs, or people who required blood transfusions in emergency situations. The blood treatments were provided by the state-run National Health Service (NHS).
Cameron was asked about the issue in parliament yesterday, at the same time as a public inquiry into HIV and Hepatitis C infections through NHS blood treatments in Scotland published its findings after seven years of work on the issue.
“It is difficult to imagine the feelings of unfairness that people must feel at being infected with Hepatitis C or HIV as a result of a totally unrelated treatment within the NHS,” Cameron told the House of Commons. “To each and every one of those people I would like to say sorry on behalf of the government for something that should not have happened,” he said, adding that the government would provide up to 25 million pounds (Dh137 million) in 2015-16 to help transition to a better compensation system for those affected.
— Reuters
