2024 Winner
Andy Evans, Jason Evans and Michelle Tolley
Tireless campaigners who fought on behalf of relatives and victims of the biggest scandal in NHS history in a decades-long quest for justice.
In the 1970s and 1980s, more than 30,000 people in Britain were infectedwith HIV and Hepatitis C after being treated with contaminated blood and blood products. Around 3,000 have died.
Many were infected through blood transfusions after surgery or childbirth. Around 1,250 people, including 380 children, were infected with both HIV and Hepatitis C through Factor concentrates, clotting agents used to treat haemophiliacs. Around 80% of these later died of AIDS-related illnesses. Some adults and children were used as subjects of medical trials, often without consent, to establish whether heating donated blood removed infection.
Victims were repeatedly blocked in their search for answers, and this year the official inquiry not only confirmed catastrophic failures in care, but also a cover-up. Inquiry chair Sir Brian Langstaff said there had been a lack of openness and “downright deception”.
The Inquiry found that victims were exposed to “unacceptable risk” and that the danger of viral infection in blood and blood products had been known since 1948. Despite this, for years the NHS imported blood products from the US, including from high-risk donors such as prisoners and drug addicts.
Andrew Evans, from Worcester, was treated with Factor concentrates. At 13 his mum told him he was HIV positive. He developed AIDS at 16. He says: “We’ve been gaslit for generations.
“I started Tainted Blood to bring people together so they weren’t alone any more. That’s when the campaign began. Winning a Pride of Britain award is a wonderful acknowledgement of how far we’ve come. It’s recognition for everyone, those no longer with us and those who are still fighting for justice.”
Jason Evans, 35, from Coventry, founder of the campaign Factor 8, was just four when his father died after being infected with both Hepatitis C and HIV through infected blood products.
He says: “Winning this is incredible recognition of the fight we’ve all been through. It’s for the whole community.” Michelle Tolley, 59, from Norfolk, was infected with Hepatitis C after receiving two transfusions, one following the birth of her son, the second after the birth of twins. She wasn’t diagnosed until 2015 and has campaigned tirelessly ever since. She says: “This award feels like we’ve been heard by the people, and that’s amazing.”