An investigation into contaminated blood finds that youngsters are far more likely to contract HIV than adults are, and additional data “vindicates” this finding. Jesmond activist
According to testimony from a senior Irish politician, twice as many youngsters as previously believed were HIV-positive during the contaminated blood disaster. This information has been used to support campaigners who have spent years pressing the government for answers.
Carol Grayson of Jesmond applauded what she called “the most crucial” testimony from Brian O’Mahony, the executive director of the Irish Haemophilia Society. Carol Grayson lost her husband and brother-in-law to HIV they caught as a result of the NHS treatment they had for haemophilia.
In his testimony, Mr. O’Mahony discussed the Irish approach to providing compensation to scandal victims, emphasising that the Irish Government decided to do so “purely out of moral obligation. Carol and other campaigners were misinformed when they wrote to the UK Government in the 1990s and 2000s that the Irish situation was unique, and this misinformation was used as justification for the UK Government not paying out like their counterparts over the Irish Sea.