Australia: Senator Ian Macdonald on mission to remove hepatitis C stigma

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Queensland Senator Ian Macdonald and his nephew are on a mission to tackle the stigma around hepatitis C and help improve access to life-saving treatments.

Senator Macdonald’s nephew Ian Pengelly, 44, was born with a form of haemophilia and contracted the potentially-deadly hepatitis C virus as a young teenager from the unscreened blood-clotting factor he was given as a part of his treatment during the 1980s.

This week, with the support of his uncle, Mr Pengelly is speaking publicly about his battle with the disease for the first time, and will detail his journey in a new book to be launched by Hepatitis Australia in Parliament House on Tuesday.

Around 230,000 Australians are believed to be living with chronic hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus which affects the liver and kills around 600 people each year.

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UK: Man given HIV and hepatitis from blood transfusion finally wins apology - but still fighting for compensation

Mark Ward was being treated for haemophilia as a teenager in the 1980s when he became one of thousands made ill from infected blood supplies 

 A man who was infected with HIV through a blood transfusion in the 1980s is demanding financial compensation after finally getting an apology from the Government.

Mark Ward said his life was destroyed when he tested positive with the virus at age 15 after receiving tainted blood at the Royal Free Hospital in North London.

Athough, at 45, he has outlived doctors' expectations, he grew up with a “death sentence” hanging over him, dependent on a daily dosage of drugs with no idea how long he will live.

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UK: St Neots man calls for justice from contaminated blood inquiry after losing three family members

Tony Farrugia, 43, of Howitt’s Gardens, Eynesbury, is pushing for the scope of the Penrose Inquiry – a public inquiry into HIV and Hepatitis C infections acquired from NHS treatment with blood and blood products in Scotland – to bring justice to patients and their families. He said that it would still be relevant to his cause in England, as the blood was given to patients prior to the Scottish NHS being separated from England.

Mr Farrugia lost his father Barry and uncles Victor and David – who were all haemophiliacs – as a result of the treatment they were given with contaminated blood. The hereditary condition, which prevents blood from clotting, meant that they required the protein Factor VIII to be administered during medical treatment.

Unbeknown to the public, the NHS had sourced paid-for blood donations which were distributed by American suppliers and taken from communities with an increased risk of having potentially deadly infections, such as prison inmates.

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UK: Diana Johnson MP: Final settlement of the contaminated blood scandal

Diana Johnson MP is Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia & Contaminated Blood. Today it publishes a report into the current support for individuals affected by the contaminated blood scandal.

From the 1970s through to the early-1990s, thousands of people underwent treatment with NHS-supplied blood products. Many of these products are now known to have been contaminated with HIV and/or Hepatitis C. Although this scandal only affected a small proportion of the population, it infected almost the entire community of people with haemophilia; and for everyone who was affected by these conditions, their lives were changed forever.

The tragic psychological and financial damage caused by these conditions is considerable, and stretches across generations. Primary earners’ careers were ruined by infection. Many affected found themselves completely unable to work, others were forced to cut down their hours and never enjoyed the career progression they would have had if the viruses never affected them. The scandal also spilled over to the carers, partners and dependants of those affected, who often had to sacrifice their own careers to support their loved ones. Should their partners die before they do, they find themselves unable to support themselves, having lost the skills necessary to get by in today’s labour market.

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