Former Health Minister Richard Renouf confirmed in 2019 that, as Jersey “mirrored” the UK’s haemophilia treatment procedures, some islanders had been given infected blood.
But, until now, the number of islanders affected had never been formally confirmed.
Pictured: The infected blood scandal saw over 30,000 patients infected with HIV and hepatitis C by contaminated blood products and transfusions from 1970 to 1991.
In response to a request made under the Freedom of Information Law, the Government confirmed that the Health Department is aware of 13 patients who were affected by contaminated pooled blood products.
Earlier this year, a public inquiry said that UK authorities covered up the scandal and exposed victims to unacceptable risks.
The UK government has now announced a compensation scheme which means victims could receive payments of more than £2m.
The Government of Jersey last week confirmed that it is working to ensure that this scheme will extend to impacted islanders.
Pictured: Former Health Minister Richard Renouf confirmed in 2019 that a “minority” of batches of donor blood used to treat Jersey patients were “infected”, leading some to contract blood-borne diseases.
The recent request made under the Freedom of Information Law also inquired about how many of the transfusions lead to the death of the patient.
The response confirmed that “transfusion-related infection is not documented as a cause of death in those that have passed away”.
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Work to ensure islanders benefit from infected blood redress scheme