Today, twelve contaminated blood and blood products campaigners have written to the UK Government urging action on improving financial support payments.
It was three months ago that these twelve campaigners. including Haemophilia Scotland Chair Bill Wright, were invited to a meeting with UK Ministers and set out a case for improved financial support.
Read the letter from campaigner in full
In today’s letter the campaigners,
- Noted that the announcement of improvements to the Wales Infected scheme haven’t been matched by an announcement for England.
- Noted that the start of the Infected Blood Inquiry oral hearings will draw attention to this issue.
- Urged the UK Government to make an announcement.
Commenting on today’s letter, Dan Farthing, CEO of Haemophilia Scotland, said,
“On the eve of the Infected Blood Inquiry oral hearings, it’s very heartening to see a diverse group of campaigners from across the UK working together seek improvement financial support. There are too many infected and affected people without the support they urgently need who are forced into seemingly endless battles with the benefits system. We know many other campaigners around the UK are also fighting hard on this issue and it is only by the combined efforts of everyone we can expect to make progress.”
“The Scottish Infected Blood Forum and Haemophilia Scotland both have members who rely on the England Infected Blood Support Scheme rather than the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme for payments. It is heartbreaking at our joint campaign meetings when two people in similar situations are sitting next to each other, campaigning side by side, but receiving very different levels of financial support. That inequality is magnified many times when the experiences of all infected and affected people around the UK are taken into account.”
