TOBY MELVILLE / AFP
An illustrative photo of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
INTERNATIONAL – One “day of shame”. A public inquiry into the vast contaminated blood scandal which left nearly 3,000 dead in the United Kingdom between the 1970s and 1990s directly questioned the authorities this Monday, May 20, accusing them in particular of cover-up.
In the process, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued an official apology. “I want to apologize wholeheartedly and unequivocally for this terrible injustice”he declared before Parliament, referring to a “ day of shame » for the British state, as you can hear in the video below.
Rishi Sunak also indicated that his government would unveil a compensation package on Tuesday in the face of what is seen as “ the worst medical disaster » of the history of the British public health system, the NHS. “Whatever the cost to implement this system, we will pay”he assured, promising a “ full compensation.”
For around twenty years, thousands of people suffering from haemophilia or having undergone surgical operations have been infected in the United Kingdom with the hepatitis C virus and HIV after receiving blood transfusions. “The scale of what happened is horrifying”describes in his report published Monday former judge Brian Langstaff, appointed in 2018 to lead this vast public inquiry.
A truth “hidden for decades”
After seven years of work, hearing thousands of witnesses and examining tens of thousands of documents, she concluded that the truth about this tragedy had been “ hidden for decades » and that the scandal “ could have been largely avoided”.
“This disaster was not an accident. Contaminations occurred because those in charge – doctors, blood services and successive governments – failed to prioritize patient safety.insisted Brian Langstaff, quoted in a press release.
Due to blood shortages, the public health service, the NHS, had turned to American suppliers who paid their donors, who included prisoners and members of other groups at significant risk of infection.
The report lists a long list of criticisms addressed to the authorities. Thus, the health system only informed infected people late, sometimes years later, while the authorities did not withdraw risky blood products when concerns about their quality were raised.
The NHS did not sufficiently seek to reduce its imports of blood products from the US, while blood donations in the UK were not adequately monitored.
A first compensation of 100,000 pounds in 2022
The report above all denounces the responsibility of successive governments, which were slow to act when the scandal emerged. “It is now time to recognize this disaster at the national level and grant fair compensation to all those who have suffered harm”notes Brian Langstaff.
Some victims have already received a first compensation of 100,000 pounds in 2022 after the publication of a progress report. But the final cost is due to be announced this week and is expected to run into billions of pounds.
It’s a “ memorable day »reacted during a press conference Andrew Evans, co-founder of the group “ Tainted Blood » (contaminated blood), hemophiliac and himself infected with HIV and hepatitis C at the age of five. “Sometimes we have felt like we were shouting into a void over the last forty years. What is happening today shows us that it can happen in the UK”he added.
The president of the Heomophilia Society, Clive Smith, regrets that given the time that has passed, “ unfortunately (…) there are many who will not obtain justice”.
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