Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date the Government first identified the risk of HIV to haemophiliacs posed by contaminated blood products.

The Department was made aware of a paper prepared by the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens in August 1983, which stated that there was “strong circumstantial evidence”, that AIDS may be transmitted by blood and blood products.

It was in December 1984 that commercial heat-treated factor VIII, which inactivated viruses, became available in any reasonable quantity and was implemented from January 1985. Testing of all blood donations for HIV was also introduced in 1985 when suitably validated, effective tests became available and was a key factor in protecting our supply.

New tests must be properly evaluated in terms of efficacy and the wider safety of the process, to ensure that the active element in a blood product (for example Factor VIII) is not compromised.

Before introducing heat treatment, it was critical that a full assessment and validation of the new process was carried out.