Unabhängige Kommission untersucht in Großbritannien, wie es zur Infektion tausender Hämophiler mit HIV, HBV und HCV durch Gerinnungsfaktoren in den 70er und 80 er Jahren kommen konnte!

Thousands Were Infected

Tuesday March 27, 2007

An independent inquiry has begun into how thousands of people with haemophilia were infected with HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne viruses by the NHS.

More than 6,000 people were contracted the infections through contaminated blood transfusions in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Chair of the inquiry, Lord Archer of Sandwell, said in his opening statement: "The purpose of the inquiry is to unravel the facts, so far as we are able, and to point to the lessons that may be learnt.

"Hopefully our findings may help to restore public confidence in the future treatment of patients.

"We trust it will also help those afflicted and bereaved to come to terms with the tragedy."

So far there have been 1,757 recorded deaths of haemophiliacs who were given contaminated blood, but the true figure may be higher and many more are terminally ill.

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The Haemophilia Society greeted the inquiry into what has been described as "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the National Health Service" by fertility expert Lord Winston.

Society chairman Roddy Morrison said: "Since we first heard that Lord Archer of Sandwell had agreed to chair the inquiry there has been a groundswell of interest among the haemophilia community."

He said it was hoped the inquiry would discover "how and why a generation of people with haemophilia were exposed to life-threatening viruses".

Haemophilia is a condition that causes sufferers to bleed for longer than normal because one of the clotting proteins in their blood is either missing or present at a very low level.

The condition can be controlled by regular injections of replacement protein.

During the period when the infections of the haemophilia population took place, the missing protein was derived from the pooled plasma of many thousands of donors, which was infected with blood-borne viruses.

Haemophiliacs in most countries are now given proteins that have been manufactured artifically to cut out the risk of infection.

Quelle: SKY News