Thousands of lives "continue to be blighted" by the infected blood scandal, a charity has said, as a long-awaited report into the tragedy is published today. More than 30,000 people were given blood or blood products contaminated with HIV, hepatitis C, or both, between the 1970s and 1990s - including an estimated 3000 people in Scotland - in what is known as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. Around 3000 of those affected have already died, including children.
READ MORE: 'We are still suffering', say families of contaminated blood scandal victims Jeremy Hunt: Infected blood compensation 'honours promise to late constituent' Penrose Inquiry: Scotland's £12m tainted blood probe branded 'whitewash' Sir Brian Langstaff, chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry - which heard evidence between 2019 and 2023 - will publish his findings today. The Haemophilia Society said it "marks a seismic moment in the long fight for truth and justice for people with haemophilia". Reports on Sunday suggest that it could cost the UK Government at least £10 billion to compensate those sickened or bereaved by infected blood.
A earlier probe in Scotland, known as the Penrose Inquiry, was branded a "whitewash" by campaigners when it published its findings in 2015 and made just one recommendation - that blood tests be offered to anyone in Scotland who had received a blood transfusion prior to 1991 and who had not already been tested for Hep C. Its chair, Lord Penrose, was also criticise.
