A huge surge in demand for hepatitis C testing has emerged after it was revealed that 1,700 people who contracted the disease in the blood transfusion scandal had still not been diagnosed.
According to the Hepatitis C Trust, these people join the other 27,000 who contracted the disease when they were given contaminated blood from the 1970s to 1991, in what is widely considered the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
The BBC has reported that 12,800 people in England have requested home test kits from the NHS in just over a week, compared to 2,300 in the entire month of April.
Known as the “silent killer,” hepatitis can cause chronic liver disease and can be fatal if left untreated.
It may initially cause only a few symptoms, including night sweats, brain fog, itchy skin and fatigue, but the chances of dying from a related cancer increase each year a person carries the virus.
Jeremy Hunt is due to announce his plans for a £10bn compensation package tomorrow, which will award “life-changing” sums to victims of the infected blood scandal.
But many potential hepatitis C carriers, like Charlotte Dickens, 70, say they were “astonished” that others did not get tested for the disease once the risks became clear.
Charlotte Dickens (pictured) says she was “astonished” that she and others did not get tested for the disease once the risks became clear.
Protesters photographed holding banners at a protest in London in July 2023.
Maureen Arkley (pictured) died of liver cancer shortly after being diagnosed with hepatitis C.
The BBC has reported that 12,800 people in England have requested home test kits from the NHS in just over a week, compared to 2,300 in the entire month of April (file image)
Mrs Dickens, from Surrey, is one of thousands who recently requested a home testing kit, having received a blood transfusion after suffering a haemorrhage during childbirth in 1980.
She said BBC: ‘I had no idea that (hepatitis C) could persist and cause liver cancer. Why didn’t we all get tested? Which is the answer? It’s hard to find an excuse.”
Dickens said he felt he should speak out on the matter as around 3,000 people are known to have died as a result of receiving infected blood products and many more unknowingly contracted hepatitis C.
Maureen Arkley died of liver cancer shortly after being diagnosed with hepatitis C.
Her daughter Victoria believes her mother was infected during transfusions 47 years earlier and is “angry” that “no one tested her.”
Hunt told the Sunday Times he promised to “fix” a fair and comprehensive settlement for tens of thousands of victims during a meeting with campaigner Mike Dorricott in 2014.
Hunt said the payment will be “a thank you to Mike more than anyone.”
And he added: “And it’s one of the saddest things that he’s not around to see it.”
The Chancellor told the newspaper that Mr Dorricott was “so kind, so decent”.
“I imagine after that meeting Mike thought he had been misled by another politician,” he said, adding: “But what Mike didn’t know is that he had really made a big impression on me.” .’
Hunt signaled his intention to secure a pay package ahead of an independent inquiry report tomorrow, with Rishi Sunak expected to respond formally.
Former judge Sir Brian Langstaff will deliver his final report tomorrow, almost seven years after the inquiry was announced.
The prime minister is then likely to make a statement in the House of Commons, although government sources declined to know whether he would issue a formal apology.
Sunak had previously told Sir Brian’s inquiry that victims of the scandal had suffered a “litany of broken promises and dashed expectations”.
Victims of the infected blood scandal will receive a £10bn compensation package as Jeremy Hunt insisted the huge payout will honor a promise made to a dying elector.
Hunt said he promised to “fix” a fair and comprehensive settlement for tens of thousands of victims during a meeting with activist Mike Dorricott (pictured) in 2014.
The Prime Minister is expected to address MPs at the close of an official inquiry into what has been condemned as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS (pictured: NHS Blood and Transplant undated)
More than 30,000 people in the UK became infected with HIV and hepatitis C after receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
Around 4,000 people have already received interim payments of around £100,000. This came after a 32-year campaign by the Daily Mail which highlighted the plight of haemophiliacs who were given contaminated blood products.
Many other countries have been affected by the same scandal. In the United States, companies that supplied infected products have paid millions in out-of-court settlements.
