UK to make further interim compensation to infected blood victims

LONDON -- The United Kingdom (UK) will make further interim compensation payments to the victims of the contaminated blood scandal, which has resulted in over 3,000 deaths and tens of thousands of infections with deadly diseases.

In what has been called "the worst treatment disaster" in the history of Britain's National Health Service (NHS), tens of thousands of patients with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders were infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses after receiving infected blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.

UK government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will make interim compensation payments of 210,000 British pounds ($267,000) "ahead of the establishment of the full scheme," John Glen, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office said in the House of Commons on Tuesday, following the publication of a final inquiry report on the scandal.

The final inquiry report released on Monday states that the scandal "could largely, though not entirely, have been avoided." It also revealed that the government along with the NHS had conspired in a coverup "to save face and to save expense."

In 2022, the government made interim compensation payments of 100,000 British pounds to about 4,000 infected individuals and bereaved partners who were registered with the country's infected blood support schemes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized for the scandal on Monday and promised to pay "comprehensive compensation" to those infected and those affected by the scandal.