IBTS Statement on the Lindsay Tribunal Report

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) accepts the findings of the Lindsay Tribunal Report as published today. While the Report cannot turn back time, it is the wish of the IBTS that its conclusions and recommendations may in some way go towards alleviating the hurt and trauma caused to persons with haemophilia and their families.

The IBTS expresses its sorrow that blood or blood products made by the BTSB led to the infection of nine people with HIV and to Hepatitis C infection in a large number of patients prior to the introduction of effective viral inactivation methods. The IBTS apologises unreservedly to these people and their families for the suffering and distress they have had to endure.

The IBTS regrets that failures on the part of the BTSB in the past and its shortcomings in response to the emerging threat of HIV contributed to the infection of eight persons with Haemophilia and one recipient of a blood transfusion. Whether persons with haemophilia were infected with HIV and/or Hepatitis C by local or imported product; or whether infection was caused before the identification of viruses or afterwards; the IBTS acknowledges and regrets all death and injury caused by products that were supposed to bring a better quality of life to people but which regrettably did the opposite. We wish to convey our sincere apologies to all those who have suffered

HIV and Hepatitis C cut through blood supplies all over the world with devastating consequences in the 1980s and early 1990s. Approximately 40,000 people with haemophilia were infected worldwide with HIV. The infection of persons with haemophilia has undoubtedly been a great international tragedy. The IBTS like many Transfusion Services worldwide have learned the lessons of this human tragedy.

Judge Lindsay has delivered a fair and accurate report that reflects the state of scientific knowledge in the period being investigated. This is particularly relevant because people had to make difficult decisions in the past when the clarity of the scientific evidence available was not as obvious as it is today.

While the risk of viral transmission today is extremely low neither the IBTS nor any Blood Transfusion Service in the world can guarantee zero risk. Based on current testing technologies and the strict donor selection criteria now being implemented in Ireland, it is estimated that the risk of contracting HIV from blood is 1 : 3.5million and for Hepatitis C is 1 : 1million. As scientific testing develops, newer and more sophisticated testing may reduce this risk even further in the years ahead.

The Blood Transfusion Service in Ireland has been radically changed and overhauled since 1994. The Finlay Tribunal Report acted as a further catalyst of redevelopment for the Blood Service in Ireland in 1997. As an organisation, we are committed to ongoing renewal and development to ensure that the IBTS maintains its status as a professional and forward-looking transfusion service that operates to the highest international standards. The biggest commitment the IBTS can give, not only to those who were infected in the past but to the Irish nation as a whole, is to make blood today as safe as it possibly can be. We can only be ever vigilant and ever cautious about current and emerging threats without risking the ongoing supply of blood. The IBTS reaffirms these commitments today.