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Victims of the infected blood scandal are finally set to receive compensation payouts of £100,000, the UK Government is expected to announce this week.
It comes after former UK Health Secretaries Andy Burnham, Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock joined calls for victims and bereaved partners to receive immediate payments.
Calls had been made by Sir Brian Langstaff, chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, who recommended victims and bereaved partners receive no less than £100,000.
In a landmark report published in March, Sir Robert Francis QC was asked to make recommendations for compensation to those affected by the scandal.
Among those recommendations was that interim payments, of a minimum of £100,000, should be arranged for those exposed to infected blood during the 1970s and 1980s – calling for the payments to be made available as soon as possible.
The scandal affected up to 30,000 people in the 1970s and 1980s, and has been referred to as ‘the worst treatment disaster in NHS history’. Around 3,000 people died as a result.
About 5,000 people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders are believed to have been infected with the HIV and hepatitis viruses. People who had blood transfusions were also exposed to the contaminated blood.
Kirk Ellis, from Penyrheol, is one of those affected.
Mr Ellis was born with haemophilia – a condition which affects the body’s ability to create blood clots; which is needed to help stop bleeding.
He received contaminated blood in 1983, when he was just 18 months old – contracting Hepatitis-C in the process – a virus which has caused Mr Ellis to suffer cirrhosis of the liver.
Last month, Mr Ellis admitted he felt “anxious” that no movements had been made by the government regarding payments, and expressed frustration over the lack of clarity.
He said: “I am disappointed that parents who lost children and children who lost parents still have to wait for any financial recognition.”
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