HUNDREDS of people with a genetic disorder could have been spared infection with HIV if England had sought help from Scotland in manufacturing blood products, new documents suggest.
Thought to be the worst treatment disaster in NHS history, the contaminated blood scandal left thousands of patients infected with hepatitis and HIV and caused many early deaths.
Most of those involved had the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia and relied on regular injections of Factor VIII to survive.
Despite repeated warnings about contamination, they continued to be given the product throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
A newly-released letter dated January 1990 shows Scotland could have helped England produce the much-needed blood product Factor VIII for patients there – but government officials rejected the idea and imported large quantities of Factor VIII from risky sources abroad, including US prisoners and drug addicts who were infected with HIV and other diseases.
The document was released under the Freedom of Information Act to campaigner Jason Evans, whose father died in 1993 having contracted hepatitis and HIV.
READ MORE: ‘Ongoing epidemic’ requires new approach to fighting HIV
In it, Professor John Cash – a former director of the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service – called the decision not to use Scotland’s spare capacity “a grave error of judgment”.
Scotland had been virtually self-sufficient in the manufacture of its Factor VIII at the Protein Fractionation Centre (PFC) in Liberton, a suburb of Edinburgh.
The letter said the Scottish PFC had “very substantial” spare capacity.
Cash said it was assumed that an experiment proving this “would expedite arrangements to give England and Wales assistance – but nothing materialised”. He also wrote of “serious defects in the operational liaison” between the Scottish Home and Health Department and the Department of Health and Social Services in England.
Cash had attempted to “persuade on numerous occasions” those higher up of the need for joint working, but this failed.
Evans, founder of the Factor 8 campaign group, commented: “The statistics say it all – 59 haemophiliacs were infected with HIV in Scotland, as opposed to 1,243 in England, where a high proportion of HIV-infected Factor VIII from the US was used.
READ MORE: Victims tell Infected Blood Inquiry that records were destroyed
“It fills me with a distinct sense of horror that so many of these people would still be alive if it were not for the total negligence that took place.”
A spokeswoman for the UK Department of Health and Social Care said it is “committed to being open and transparent” with the ongoing public inquiry on the matter, which will resume its public hearings next month.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel