5,000 diseased through NHS blunder

London: The government was on Friday accused of a cover-up over a National Health Service (NHS) scandal involving thousands of victims infected by contaminated blood.

Campaigners claim ministers withheld dozens of documents relating to the blunder that left nearly 5,000 patients with deadly diseases.

The use of imported blood that had not been properly screened exposed victims to blood viruses including Aids and Hepatitis C more than 20 years ago. Nearly half have died as a direct result.

But other terminally ill survivors of the scandal, called "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS", have spoken out before an official report into the case.

Published on Monday, the findings of this two-year independent inquiry are expected to be hugely critical of how victims have been treated.

Campaign group Tainted Blood told the Standard that Whitehall officials have still not released at least 30 documents to the inquiry panel chaired by former solicitor general Lord Archer of Sandwell.

Spokesman Gareth Lewis said victims want an official apology, full compensation for their trauma, a full package of medical care and an admission that evidence of the disaster was ignored by successive governments. He said: "My biggest concern is the evidence has been there yet successive governments have tried to hide it.

"It is only through freedom of information laws that we are in the situation we are. But there are still about 30 documents that have not been released that could help us find out the truth about what happened. We just want closure."