The investigation into the deaths or illnesses of 30 thousand people in England between 1970 and 1991 due to being given infected blood carrying HIV and hepatitis viruses while receiving healthcare services has been concluded. The results of the investigation, announced yesterday, revealed that British officials were negligent in allowing tens of thousands of patients to contract deadly infections through infected blood, and that the facts about this disaster were hidden for decades.
THE BIGGEST SCANDAL IN HISTORY!
The infected blood scandal, which resulted in the death of approximately 3 thousand people and many people suffering lifelong diseases, was recorded as the largest and deadliest scandal in the history of the British healthcare system.
According to the report prepared by listening to more than 5 thousand witnesses and examining more than 100 thousand documents, blood products carrying HIV virus were given to 1,250 patients with bleeding disorders, 380 of whom were children, within the scope of scandalous practices. Three quarters of these patients died. Approximately 5 thousand patients who were given infected blood products contracted chronic Hepatitis C disease. The number of people infected with Hepatitis C virus during blood transfusion while in hospitals due to birth, surgery and accidents was announced as 26 thousand 800 people.
THEY DESTROYED THE DOCUMENTS
Former Judge Brian Langstaff, who prepared the final report of the public inquiry, accused British governments and health system officials of committing a series of wrongdoings to protect their own image and avoid spending. Langstaff pointed out that there were also examples of government officials destroying some documents to hide the scandal.
The infected blood scandal in the British healthcare system began in the 1970s, when Britain adopted a new treatment method used in the USA. Drawing blood from high-risk donors such as prisoners and drug addicts introduced infected blood samples into the system. Practices such as mixing the blood plasma of thousands of donors during the production of blood products have created a situation where even a single donor carrying the virus causes a large amount of product to become infected.
COMPENSATION WILL BE PAID
The British government will pay compensation of up to 2.6 million pounds to patients and their relatives who were exposed to HIV and Hepatitis viruses by giving “infected blood” between 1970 and 1991, depending on the severity of the situation. According to the plan, the first final payments will begin at the end of the year, and an interim payment of 210 thousand pounds will be made to beneficiaries this summer.
PRIME MINISTER: ‘DAY OF SHAME’
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized to the victims and said that the day the investigation report was published was a day of shame for the British state.
Sunak, who promised to correct the historical wrong in his speech in the House of Commons on Monday, said: “I am truly sorry. Today’s report points to a decades-long moral devastation at the center of our state life. “The people and institutions in which we have placed our trust at every level, from the State Health Service to the Civil Service and ministers in incoming governments, have failed in the most horrific and devastating way,” he said.
Source: UAV
