Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA has welcomed money being made available to begin payments for those infected by contaminated blood.

The £1 million is designed to address an imbalance between patients here and the rest of the UK. Thousands of patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood in the 1970s and 80s.

“I welcome the £1 million allocation in the monitoring round which will enable payments to be made to those diagnosed with HIV or hepatitis C, having received infected blood,” said Ms Bradshaw.

“It means some hardship may be alleviated even before the Minister completes an overall review.

“Many people’s lives were altered significantly by this medical disaster. We must now do all we can, swiftly, to ensure there is a thorough review and then the resources are made available to provide every support to the victims.”