"[7] The final report was published in seven volumes on 20 May 2024, concluding that the scandal could have been largely avoided, patients were knowingly exposed to "unacceptable risks", and that doctors, the government and NHS tried to cover up what happened by "hiding the truth".

As part of an ongoing public inquiry, 3,000 surviving victims were awarded interim compensation payments in August 2022, to be paid urgently due to the extremely high death rate of survivors.

[17] On 20 May 2024, the six year long "Infected Blood Inquiry" was finally reported covering more than 2000 pages "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS".

[26] Some of the most notorious examples of risky plasma harvesting are those of Luckner Cambronne, who became known as "The Vampire of the Caribbean" for his profiting from the sale of Haitian blood to the West for medical uses,[27] and also Crysosan Ltd, a company based in Canada that was found guilty of harvesting plasma from the bodies of dead Russians and re-labelling it as originating from Swedish donors.

The World Health Organization also warned the UK not to import blood from countries with a high prevalence of hepatitis, such as the United States.

[52] In May 1975, the World Health Organization passed a widely circulated resolution urging all countries to aim at self-sufficiency in blood products.

A study published in December 1983 showed conclusively that the risk to a haemophiliac of contracting hepatitis C by using untreated clotting-factor products was 100% upon first exposure.

[57] In July 1982, the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that at least 3 haemophiliacs there had developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

[59] In May 1983, Spence Galbraith, director of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in England and Wales, sent a paper entitled "Action on AIDS", to Dr Ian Field at the Department of Health and Social Security in London, informing him of the death from AIDS of a haemophiliac who had received factor VIII concentrate imported from the United States.

When giving evidence to the Penrose Inquiry, Dr. Mark Winter said that, at the time Ken Clarke made this statement, "all haemophilia clinicians by this stage clearly believed that commercial blood products could and were transmitting AIDS".

In April 1989, the HIV Haemophilia Litigation commenced, which culminated in December 1990 with an out-of-court settlement, following an investigation by ITV's The Cook Report in July 1990.

[68] The report concluded that "an arbitrary and unjustified decision, most likely taken by an inexperienced member of staff, was responsible for the destruction of a series of files containing the minutes and background papers of the Advisory Committee on the Virological Safety of Blood (ACVSB)".

[citation needed] In a 1990 episode of The Cook Report, Owen said: "I can see why some people would be unhappy with having all the facts revealed because it will show negligence".

[70] Another handling error is described in the inquiry: "mishandling of documents arose in connection with a number of files relating to the Advisory Committee on the Virological Safety of Blood between May 1989 and February 1992 which were found to be missing".

[75] Published in 2015, the inquiry was described as a whitewash[76][77] and waste of public money (over £12 million)[78] by critics after it found that very little could have been done differently,[79] and failed to apportion any blame in the scandal, while making just one recommendation.

[82] After years of increasing pressure from campaigners and MPs, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a full UK-wide public inquiry into the scandal.

[85][86][87] In June 2018, the Department of Health issued an apology,[citation needed] because for two years Ministers had told Parliament that in relation to Contaminated Blood Scandal evidence: "All documents up to 1995 are available through the National Archives".

The report found that 8,120 people were chronically infected with Hepatitis C, ten years or more after contaminated blood transfusions.

Successive governments, led by Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats, have been criticised for their handling of the case, limited support schemes and refusal to conduct a public inquiry, until 2017.

Officials stated that it had made available an extra £125 million, more than any previous government, but critics said this money was simply accounted for as a cost to the NHS, of extending treatments to those with hepatitis C sooner.

The Conservative government failed to prevent the amendment in a vote in the House of Commons, despite a three-line whip, in what was seen as a significant blow to the Sunak administration's authority.

[95] In May 2024, Cabinet Office Minister John Glen MP told the House of Commons that the victims of the scandal (or their estates) would receive an interim compensation payment of up to £210,000 within 90 days.