Infected blood scandal in the United Kingdom

Common card · No. 299896

From the 1970s to the early 1990s, tens of thousands of people were infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV as a result of receiving infected blood or infected clotting factor products in the United Kingdom. Many of the products were imported from the United States, and distributed to patients by the National Health Service. Most recipients had haemophilia, or a bleeding disorder, or had received a blood transfusion following childbirth or surgery. Around 1,250 people with bleeding disorders contracted HIV, an estimate that included approximately 380 children. More than 30,000 patients are estimated to have received contaminated blood, resulting in thousands of deaths. In July 2017, the then Prime Minister Theresa May announced an independent public inquiry into the scandal, after successive governments since the 1980s had refused to do so. The final report was published on 20 May 2024, concluding that the scandal could have been largely avoided and that "doctors, the blood services...

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