A PUBLIC inquiry into the worst treatment disaster of the NHS is to review the treatment of haemophiliacs almost 50 years ago.
The ongoing inquiry into people infected with contaminated blood will today examine the work of the Northern Ireland Haemophilia Centre, which was based at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast during the 1970s and 1980s.
It will also review current care and practices.
A UK-wide public inquiry into the massive scandal, which left at least 2,400 people dead, heard harrowing evidence from those affected in 2019.
About 5,000 people, including 99 from the north, were infected.
Derry man Paul Kirkpatrick, co-chair of Friends and Families of Haemophilia NI, said the latest review will be "very difficult" for survivors and relatives who have lost family members.
Mr Kirkpatrick was the first to give evidence to the landmark inquiry's sitting in the north and revealed he learned an hour before taking the stand how the NHS had treated him with HIV infected blood more than 30 years earlier.
Despite being treated with "dirty blood", the father-of-two did not contract HIV. He did however become seriously ill with Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C as a result of his care.
"As the inquiry has evolved more and more of the infected and affected have been willing to speak out and share what is no longer our 'dirty secret', " Mr Kirkpatrick said.
Another group member, Martin Sloan (45), a severe haemophiliac who contracted Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 80s, said his life had been devastated by the scandal.
"The pressure finally broke up my marriage...I am a lone parent with two daughters, and we struggle to maintain a normal life. This contaminated blood inquiry has been very difficult, but I hope we can get some justice for my grandfather who is no longer with us and for my brother and I who must live the rest of our lives with question marks on our health," he said.
Earlier this month health minister Robin Swann confirmed annual payments of up to £33,500 will be given to those whose loved one died after contracting HIV or hepatitis C having been given infected blood.
The payments will be backdated to April last year and will cost about £400,000 a year.
