DUNFERMLINE and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman has met with local families affected by the Infected Blood Scandal at the launch of an official report in Westminster.

The publication has revealed that both the UK Government and the NHS deliberately attempted to conceal this ongoing disaster which has cost thousands of lives.

Mr Chapman said the launch allowed him to read for himself the "full extent of failures and cover-ups" at the heart of government, our NHS and civil service.

“It is truly horrifying to read the extent of this disaster and to hear stories from the families affected, the terrible losses they have endured and their decades long struggle to get to the truth of one of the worst scandals in UK history," he said.

"To discover that none of this happened by accident, that it was the result of chilling deceit and obfuscation on the part of trusted medical experts, the UK civil service and government ministers in our society is truly shocking.

"To read in black and white that it could have been mostly avoided had someone in a position of trust taken action is beyond belief.”

Dunfermline Press: Douglas Chapman MPDouglas Chapman MP (Image: UK Parliament)

For five decades, campaigners have been fighting for justice for their loved ones who were afflicted with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders and were given factor concentrates contaminated with HIV and hepatitis viruses during the 1970s and 80s.

Almost all of the 3,000 were infected with Hepatitis C and around 1,250 people, including 380 children, were also infected with HIV.

Three quarters of those infected with HIV have since died, as well as around a third of those with Hepatitis C. Those who survived are in very poor health due to liver damage or living with long term HIV.

Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the Infected Blood Inquiry, outlined “a catalogue of disasters” in his final report, noting “systemic, collective and individual failures" to deal "ethically, appropriately and quickly, with the risk of infections being transmitted in blood”.

Mr Chapman added: “The final report published today reveals the true extent of this scandal and the devastating betrayal of trust by our public institutions.

"It is now imperative that the UK Government sets out an immediate timeline for compensation for the families who have been affected."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week issued a “wholehearted and unequivocal” apology to the victims of the scandal, saying that the publication of the report into the disaster was “a day of shame for the British state”.