HC Deb 12 March 1999 vol 327 cc413-4W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the basis of the compensation entitlement for those suffering from(a) the AIDS virus and (b) hepatitis C through contaminated blood products. [75559]

Mr. Hutton

As a general rule, compensation or other financial assistance is paid only when the NHS, or individuals working in it, has been at fault. This is not the case with infection by HIV or hepatitis C through blood products before viral screening tests and inactivation processes were available. An exception to this general rule was the special payment scheme for people infected with HIV through NHS treatment with blood or blood products. This reflected the widespread public fear of the disease at the time, when the infection was rapidly fatal and associated with sexual transmission.

Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the United Kingdom are currently suffering from hepatitis C; and how many of these have contracted their condition as a consequence of receiving contaminated blood products in the course of NHS treatment. [75560]

Mr. Hutton

The exact number of people with hepatitis C in the United Kingdom is not known. Estimates suggest that around 250,000 to 300,000 may carry the virus. We estimate that 4,000 were infected with hepatitis C through their National Health Service treatment with blood products, mainly for haemophilia, before the introduction of viral inactivation processes in 1985.