Bad blood

More than 4,000 people with haemophilia in the UK have contracted HIV or Hepatitis C, and in some cases both, from contaminated blood products imported from the US in the 1970s and 1980s. Patients who already lived with a rare and severe disorder received the infected drug derived from blood donations from up to 40,000 people, including prisoners and drug users. Only decades later, after hundreds had died as a direct result of contamination, were victims and their families given a chance to find out the truth behind the contaminated blood scandal. In April 2019, a public inquiry opened, hearing testimonies from around the country. RTD travels to the UK to hear from campaigners and infected-blood patients seeking answers, desperate to know why, and how, the tragedy was allowed to happen.

Watch "Bad blood" on RTD website and on RT’s live feed. The time of the broadcast is available on RT’s schedule page.