Contaminated Blood Products

Chloe Smith Excerpts
Wednesday 9th September 2015

(9 years, 2 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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Jane Ellison Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)
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I will do my best, Mr Owen.

I congratulate the hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie) on securing this debate; she is a consistent champion of this issue. Many other colleagues present have also done so much important work over many years on this difficult and tragic topic.

During the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s, many individuals were sadly infected with hepatitis C, HIV, or both, from NHS-supplied blood or blood products before effective donor screening tests were introduced. To this day, many people continue to be affected by the grievous outcome of their earlier treatment, so it is right that the matter is given our attention and collaborative consideration. I know that I will not be able to satisfy all the points raised by the hon. Member for South Down, but I hope that I can at least give the House a very keen sense of how much I share the desire to move towards a better outcome and a conclusion.

Chloe Smith Portrait Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)
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Does my hon. Friend the Minister plan to address the subject of drugs? Can she put a rocket up the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to get that part of the business in order?