London:
Thousands of people in Britain who are infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood transfusions will receive compensation decades after the scandal, the British government announced on Wednesday.
The £100,000 ($121,000) payment to each victim is an interim payment after Brian Langstaff, the chairman of a public inquiry into the long-running scandal, last month recommended immediate payouts before waiting for an ongoing investigation.
The former Supreme Court judge said the “moral case for damages is beyond doubt”.
The government said tax-free payments to survivors of the scandal and next of kin of the thousands estimated to have died from the contaminated blood would be made by the end of October.
Thousands of people with hemophilia contracted hepatitis C and HIV after receiving blood transfusions, mostly from the United States, through the National Health Service (NHS) in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Due to a shortage of blood products in Britain, the NHS bought much of its stock from US suppliers whose donors, including prisoners and other groups at high risk of infection, had been paid for their blood.
In the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 2,400 patients died after being infected via the contaminated blood products.
An earlier inquiry, concluded in 2009, found that ministers should have acted sooner to make the UK’s blood supply self-sufficient in order to reduce dependence on imports.
It also called for compensation for those affected.
A 2017 Supreme Court ruling allowed victims and their families to seek compensation through the UK legal system.
In a statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that “nothing can compensate for the pain and suffering of those affected by this tragic injustice”.
But he added that the government is “taking action to bring justice to victims and those who have tragically lost their partners by ensuring that they receive these interim payments as soon as possible”.
However, campaigners said the announcement fails to recognize most of the family members affected by the scandal, who will miss this series of interim payments.
When the public inquiry closes next year, it is expected to make final recommendations on compensation for this broader group of people, including survivors and the children of victims.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)