SARAH HALL - Norwich Advertiser
05 February 2010
A man who was infected with hepatitis C after receiving contaminated blood products joined hundreds of people to lobby MPs for a “fair deal” for victims of the blunder.
Michael Collyer, from Norwich, was one of thousands of haemophiliacs who became infected from an anti-blood clotting agent used in hospitals from 1960 to the early 1980s.
At least 2,000 haemophiliacs have died since the mistake and it has been described as a “horrific human tragedy”, but victims and their families have spent more than 20 years trying to get answers and adequate compensation.
Last year, a long-awaited independent report into the tragedy was released by Lord Archer of Sandwell and while it acknowledged the scale of the problem, there was still little offered in way of help to people who have been infected with Hep C or other diseases during the blunder.
On Wednesday, the Haemophilia Society descended on parliament to lobby MPs to accept a bill, which will offer a fair deal for those contaminated in the blood disaster.
The contaminated blood bill faces a crucial commons second reading debate today and the society and its members wanted to get opinions across to MPs before a decision was made.
Mr Collyer, 57, from Colman Road, said: “This bill is very important to all those people who were infected and have spent more than 20 years fighting.
“We are calling on the government to address what happens and adequately compensate for this tragedy. One of the items on the bill is priority NHS treatment for victims including counselling, physiotherapy, home nursing and priority for NHS prescription drugs.”
As a result of receiving NHS contaminated blood products, 4,670 people were infected with Hepatitis C of whom 1,243 were also exposed to HIV and more than 2,000 have now died.
The bill is based on the report of the independent inquiry chaired by Lord Archer. The Haemophilia Society made it known to almost 100 MPs this week that those who tried to block the bill would be “named and shamed”.
Mr Collyer said: “I feel like we were really listened to and I hope this bill goes through. For too long we have had to fight this, but the battle will go on and we will keep calling for improvements.
“A very considerable number of people died because of this error and we still need answers.”
Hepatitis C causes severe inflammation of the liver. The NHS bought blood from US suppliers, who used what became known as “skid row” donors such as prison inmates who were more likely to have HIV and hepatitis C.
