After the results of the investigation into the contaminated blood scandal were announced on the 20th, British Prime Minister Sunak apologized for the "failures" of his country's previous governments, calling this day a national day of shame in the UK, and promised to compensate the victims at all costs.
"On behalf of this government and every government since the 1970s, I deeply apologize." Sunak said in a speech in the House of Commons of the British Parliament that day, "I want to respond to this terrible injustice. A wholehearted and unequivocal apology.”
△ On the 20th local time, British Prime Minister Sunak publicly apologized for the blood contamination scandal. According to CCTV News
The British contaminated blood scandal can be traced back to the 1970s to the early 1990s. At the time, Britain was struggling to be self-sufficient in blood donations and turned to the United States for help to meet growing demand. But some of the imported blood comes from high-risk donors such as prisoners and drug addicts, leading to some blood being contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C viruses.
Brian Langstaff, who is in charge of the above-mentioned investigation, released an investigation report of about 2,500 pages on the 20th, condemning the failures of "successive governments, the National Health Service and the Blood Service" in the UK.
report states that imported blood products used to treat many people are unsafe and should not be licensed for use in the UK; large numbers of patients are exposed to unacceptable risks of infection; this incident resulted in 30,000 people becoming infected with HIV or hepatitis C through blood products The virus has killed about 3,000 people so far. British media stated that the above numbers are increasing every week. In addition, the report also showed that since 1993, British health system staff "deliberately" destroyed relevant documents, amounting to a "general cover-up of facts."
Sunak said after the report was released that the inquiry should "shock our country to its core" and that it showed "decades of moral failure at the heart of our national life." Sunak condemned the actions of NHS England, the civil service and government officials as "letting the country down", saying those "in positions of power and trust have had time and time again the chance to stop these infections from spreading, but time and time again they have" failed to do so once.”
British media pointed out that this contaminated blood scandal is the most serious medical disaster in the history of the British National Health Service Federation.
(according to Xinhua News Agency)
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