How 175 British children were infected with HIV

At least 175 children with the blood disorder haemophilia were infected with HIV in the 1980s, according to documents from the national archives seen by BBC News. Some of the families affected are giving evidence at a public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.

It was almost 36 years ago - in late October 1986 - but Linda will never forget the day she was told her son had been infected.

She had been called into a consulting room in Birmingham Children's Hospital, with 16-year-old Michael.

As a toddler, he had been diagnosed with haemophilia, a genetic disorder that stopped his blood clotting properly.

Linda assumed the meeting was to discuss moving his care to the main Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the city.

"It was so routine that my husband stayed in the car outside," she says.

"Then, all of a sudden, the doctor said, 'Of course, Michael is HIV positive,' and he came out with it like he was talking about the weather outside. My stomach just fell."

Between 1970 and 1991, 1,250 people with blood disorders were infected with HIV in the UK after taking Factor VIII - a new treatment that replaced the clotting protein missing from their blood.

About half of those infected with HIV died of an Aids-related illness before life-saving antiretroviral drugs became available.

Almost three decades later, Linda is giving evidence to the long-running public inquiry into the treatment disaster.

She will appear alongside other parents, in a special session about the experiences of families whose children were infected in the 1970s and 80s.

"I felt as though I needed to do it because I want to help get to the bottom of it," she says. "We all want to know why it was allowed to happen and to keep on happening as well."

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Source: BBC News, 6 October 2022