LBC Views: Let's hope this isn't the end for the victims of the infected blood scandal

17 August 2022, 14:15

Anyone who simply dismisses the true horror of the contaminated blood scandal as 'bad luck' should read about the pupils of Treloar College.

It is difficult to comprehend but 64 pupils at the same school were killed by the treatment that was supposed to save their lives.

These boys, who all suffered with the blood disorder haemophilia, attended the specialist school under the impression that it gave them the best chance of a normal life.

But many were dead before they reached their 30th birthday, killed by diseases including HIV and Hepatitis C which they got from blood products that were hailed as a miracle treatment for haemophilia, a disorder that stops blood from clotting and can make a trivial injury fatal.

And many others were condemned to a slow and painful death while those in authority repeatedly failed them.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Treloar College was at the forefront of a revolutionary treatment with just one injection able to stop potentially fatal bleeding.

But demand for the blood products far out-stripped supply and most of it was imported from America where companies paid donors for their blood, an incentive that attracted drug users, prostitutes and alcoholics.

US companies were warned of potential dangers but continued to use so-called “skid row” donors.

Though British doctors were becoming concerned that viruses were creeping into these products, patients, including those at Treloar, continued to receive blood products riddled with deadly diseases. In total, 7,500 NHS patients were infected after receiving the dangerous blood products.

It has been described as the 'effective genocide of a generation of haemophiliacs'.

But in their decades-long battle for redress, they have faced missing documents and government denial of responsibility.

Sir John Major described those who got infected as having "incredibly bad luck"

Bad luck!

Those that survived endured years of misery. Were driven from their homes, labelled AIDS-scum.

The government has announced £100,000 in compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal.

The intention is that payments will be tax-free and will not impact any other financial benefits a person might get at the culmination of the public inquiry into the scandal next year.

This £100,000 is a drop in the ocean for these people after all that they have suffered.

Let's hope this is not the end and these victims and their families get the compensation and justice that they deserve.