Twice as many children were infected with HIV during the contaminated blood scandal than were previously thought - and evidence from a senior Irish figure has vindicated campaigners who spent years pushing the Government for answers.
Jesmond's Carol Grayson, who lost her husband and brother-in-law to HIV they contracted due to the NHS treatment they were given for haemophilia, welcomed what she called "the most important" evidence from Brian O'Mahony - chief executive of the Irish Haemophilia Society.
Mr O'Mahony gave evidence about the Irish approach to compensation to victims of the scandal - and highlighted how the Irish Government agreed to pay compensation to victims of the scandal there out of "moral obligation and nothing else". In correspondence with the UK Government in the 1990s and 2000s, Carol and other campaigners were wrongly told that the Irish situation was different and it was used as reason as to why the UK Government did not follow their counterparts over the Irish sea and pay out.
Read more: Blood scandal victim slams NHS for not 'learning from its mistakes'
Last month, after decades of campaigning, many of the victims of the scandal received an interim compensation payout. A full payout, which could run into the millions - is still awaited. The contaminated blood scandal saw thousands given tainted blood products on the NHS - with lethal consequences over decades.
Carol explained that Mr O'Mahony's evidence, prompted by questions from Sir Brian Langstaff who chairs the Infected Blood Inquiry, vindicated her and said she wanted that reflected with an apology. She said: "That's the most important evidence we've seen this week. We fought and fought over that."
Carol's husband Pete Longstaff died an "awful death" due to HIV and hepatitis C caused by infected blood products given to treat his haemophilia, years after his younger brother Stephen had suffered the same fate. This week also saw the inquiry published a document highlighting how around twice as many children were infected with HIV than had previously been thought.
Approximately 380 children in total were infected with HIV through blood products in the UK, the inquiry has said. It had previously been reported at least 175 children were infected, but after looking into this, the inquiry team has estimated the number to be more than double.
Jenni Richards KC, counsel to the Inquiry, wrote: “The Inquiry’s current view of the number of children likely to have been infected with HIV through blood products in the UK is that the figure of 175 derives from the HIV Haemophilia Litigation as the number who were still children at the time of the settlement.
“The Inquiry estimates that the number of people who were children when infected is more than two times that number."
This is around a third of the total number of people infected with HIV. Many more were infected with hepatitis C. So far, at least 2,400 people have died as a result of the treatment disaster in the UK.
The Infected Blood Inquiry continues and is expected to conclude in 2023. A number of current and former Government figures have given evidence - including at the start of the Inquiry when the Department of Health and Social Care's lawyer Eleanor Grey KC said: "We are sorry. This happened when it should not have done."
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