Bereaved families of Infected Blood Scandal can now apply for £100,000 compensation payments
24 October 2024, 10:50 | Updated: 24 October 2024, 11:28
Victims of the Infected Blood Scandal can now apply for up to £100,000 in compensation.
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More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after blood collected from prisons was administered to patients in the 1970s and 1980s.
Some 3,000 people are known to have died - as well as many more who were unaware they contracted hepatitis C.
The government has urged partners, parents, siblings and children of those impacted by the scandal to claim compensation - here.
The applications will be processed by Infected Blood Support Schemes, which will also administer the payments.
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, said: “I hope that today is seen as another important milestone for victims and campaigners who have waited far too long for justice.
“We are committed to acting on the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry and these payments are an important step forward in providing substantial compensation to the families of victims of infected blood.
"No amount of compensation can fully address the suffering as a result of this scandal, but we are doing everything possible to deliver life-changing sums to people infected and affected.”
It marks the first time estates of the Infected Blood Scandal will receive payments from the government.
Tens of thousands had their lives put at risk by blood transfusions or treatments for haemophilia, a rare genetic blood-clotting condition.
In the 1970s, haemophilia patients were generally administered with donated human blood plasma, replacing clotting agents.
Entire batches of the blood plasma were contaminated with deadly viruses but administered to patients.
Approximately 1,250 people with bleeding disorders went on to develop HIV and hepatitis C, including 380 children.
Two-thirds died from AIDS-related illnesses, and some unwillingly gave HIV to their partners.
Another 2,400 to 5,000 people with haemophilia developed Hepatitis C independently, which can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Blood transfusion patients were also given contaminated blood between 1970 and 1991.
According to the inquiry, between 80 and 100 were infected with HIV, and about 27,000 with Hepatitis C. It's estimated that 2,900 blood transfusion patients have died due to the contamination.
