[Liu Haoran, Special Correspondent of the Global Times] From the 1970s to the 1990s, the largest medical accident in the history of the British National Health Service (NHS) occurred: tens of thousands of patients in the country were infected with hepatitis and AIDS due to the abuse of "infected blood" for treatment. After years of investigation and evidence collection, Brian Lanstaff, a former British judge, released a 2527 page public investigation report on the 20th, which disclosed in detail all kinds of misdeeds committed by the NHS and the government departments at that time to cover up the accident, so that Prime Minister Sunak called it "national shame".
"Loss of public trust"
The Guardian reported on the 20th that in the House of Commons of the British Parliament on the same day, Sunak publicly apologized for the extraordinary scandal that has troubled the people for half a century. Sunak said that he would like to apologize to everyone affected by the incident on behalf of the successive governments since the 1970s, and said that this day is Britain's national humiliation day. He promised that no matter what the cost, the British government would compensate the victims. Stamer, leader of the British Labor Party, also expressed his apology, saying that the accident was one of the "most serious injustice incidents" in British history, and that the victims had suffered "unspeakable pain".
According to the review of the BBC and other media, about half a century ago, blood transfusion treatment had gradually developed and matured in the medical field, and was widely used in surgery, hemophilia treatment and other uncommon congenital coagulation disorders. Because the medical system did not strictly control the quality of plasma, a large number of blood with various diseases were mixed into the NHS blood bank, which directly led to about 30000 patients infected with hepatitis C and AIDS in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, of which about 3000 victims had died.
Students are "cheaper than chimpanzees"
After five years of investigation, Lanstaff revealed many shocking truths. In his opinion, many medical accidents can be effectively avoided from the beginning to the end of the scandal, but the NHS clearly did not put medical safety in the first place.
The BBC said, for example, that British public medical institutions have long introduced plasma from abroad. Many of these paid plasma are from "high-risk blood donors", such as prisoners and drug addicts in American prisons. The medical institutions involved have not labeled and classified the plasma that should not be put into use. The report also records that British medical institutions continued to collect blood from "high-risk groups" in China until 1986.
According to the Guardian, about 1000 victims of "infected blood" listened to the summary of Lanstaff's report at the London Convention and Exhibition Center on the 20th. Andy Evans, 47, who was infected with both HIV and hepatitis C when he was young, said that on the 20th, it was "significant". Now he can finally prove that "this is really what happened in Britain".
Richard Warwick, 58, said that when he was young, he attended a school for disabled children in Hampshire and received blood transfusion treatment. In the process of "treatment", he suffered from hepatitis B and AIDS successively. According to his disclosure, about 80 students were killed in the medical trials conducted by the school as "consumables". He even saw the statement that "(these students) are cheaper than chimpanzees" in a letter from the school.
Government agencies "cover up the facts"
In Lanstav's report, there are numerous cases of medical institutions and government departments ignoring risks and deceiving patients. The BBC, for example, said that as early as 1983, Gabriel Reis, a top British infectious disease expert, discovered the problem of "infected blood" and warned the government that it should remove the plasma imported from the United States from the NHS blood bank and conduct AIDS screening, but the government directly ignored his opinion.
Lanstave said that the British authorities obviously had the plot of "covering up the facts" - the units or individuals involved had coincidentally concealed most of the truth from the public in order to "save face and save money". For example, the report records that the British Ministry of Health deliberately destroyed a batch of documents in the 1990s, which included relevant materials on "delaying the implementation of hepatitis C plasma screening". In addition, many hospitals and medical committees involved also have a large number of blank medical records, which are either destroyed or directly "disappeared".
Lanstaff also commented that the "mutual maintenance" between the NHS and the British government has greatly hindered the development of public investigation. It is reported that until Teresa May came to power, the British government was forced by political pressure to officially launch a public investigation. However, at this time, many key witnesses either died or were unable to provide evidence due to physical reasons.
About 3000 survivors will receive a total of 300 million pounds (100 million pounds, about 920 million yuan) of "temporary compensation" in 2022, because many key witnesses faced serious health problems at that time. Sky News said that the British government may disclose the final compensation plan between the 21st and 22nd, with a total amount of about 10 billion pounds. Due to the lack of medical records, some victims or their families may encounter difficulties in applying for medical records.
