As you may have seen in the news there is currently an investigation into the “infected blood scandal” which was an issue whereby infected blood products were purchased from the US and used on people in hospitals in the UK, Canada, and other countries: Infected blood scandal – what you need to know
My question is why would this be limited to HIV and Hepatitis C? It appears this is how I contracted hepatitis b as a new born. And my mother right after she gave birth to me
Hi @bob,
It is such a shame and unethical what some people decided to do here. I hope those responsible will be held accountable. Most of these infections could have been stopped and prevented back in 1982/83 when it became clear that infections were possible. About you and your mom, how so? From what I gathered from the report unless you both received some of these infected blood products such as plasma or blood transfusion between 1970-1998, then I am not sure the link here. Maybe you can explain what you mean here further about the connection or link?
It is worth pointing out that hepatitis B virus has been around for a very long time and only became known to the public later. Thanks for sharing. Bansah1
I mean that she received some of these blood products within the specified time frame during pregnancy. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made this claim
In any case the question is more focused on why HIV and hepatitis c are being acknowledged but not hepatitis b
I suspect it’s because the former 2 have more immediate pronounced effects, and HBV is more of a background issue. But I think this is wrong and that HBV should also be recognized. I was wondering what it might take to get this to happen
Sure, I thought I heard someone mention today that they would cover all three. If not, then my guess is that they don’t think HBV was linked at all here. I agree with you here that they should focus on all types of hepatitis except A. Because they all can be transmitted through infected blood products. Thanks for the conversation and I hope they can use this opportunity to offer better care, support and services for all those suffering from these infections. Bansah1.
Hi @bob,
I’m under the impression from reading the article you linked to and this one from The Guardian (Infected blood scandal: who will get compensation, and how much will they get? | Contaminated blood scandal | The Guardian) that people infected with Hepatitis B will be acknowledged and compensated, as well as those exposed to HCV and HIV.
Thomas
Hi Bob. I thought the article did cover HepB!
You are welcome to any other questions you may have.
I suppose you are being monitored six monthly?
Thanks guys. Either the article was updated since I posted it or I missed it when I first read it, but yes it does seem confirmed that it covers HBV too
Hopefully other countries which were part of the exact same scandal decide to acknowledge it at some point too. I wonder if it was a case of the UK starting purchase agreements for the blood products in question and others following their lead