Former prime minister calls contaminated blood scandal 'incredibly bad luck'

Former prime minister Sir John Major has described the contaminated blood scandal as "incredibly bad luck", drawing gasps from families watching him give evidence under oath to the public inquiry into the disaster.

Up to 30,000 people contracted HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s after being given blood treatments or transfusions on the NHS. Thousands have since died.

Sir John later apologised for his choice of language.

He said: "I obviously caused offence inadvertently this morning when I referred to the fact that it was awful that people had been fed infected blood and I referred to it as sheer bad luck.

"I can only say to people it wasn't intended to be offensive. I was seeking to express the fact that I was concerned about what happened.

"It was intended simply to say that it was a random matter and I perhaps expressed it injudiciously."

The UK-wide inquiry was launched after years of campaigning by victims, who claim the risks were never explained and that the scandal was covered up.

Campaigners say those infected decades ago are now dying at the rate of one every four days as a result.

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Source: BBC News, 27 June 2022