‘I contracted HIV as a baby from infected blood and haven’t had compensation’

Charity warns victims caught in 'lottery' of claims process

- REBECCA THOMAS

A man who nearly died twice after contracting HIV from infected blood he received as a baby is having to "prove his worth” to get compensation, despite living with the disease for 40 years.

More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s, and more than 3,000 have died as a result.

A year after the Infected Blood Inquiry concluded that survivors should receive a share of the £11.8bn compensation fund for the harm inflicted on them, the charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has warned that HIV victims are being unfairly “caught in a lottery” of compensation claims and are having to prove their diagnosis.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was infected in 1970 after he was given contaminated blood as a baby following an accident. Despite living with HIV for 40 years and nearly dying twice as a result of complications, he has yet to be considered for compensation as the new scheme is picking patients at random to submit claims.

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