“美国血”致超3000人死亡!英首相道歉……

2024-06-07 14:21:31来源:网络

  “英国国民医疗服务体系(NHS)历史上最严重的医疗灾难”“令英国国家蒙羞的一天”“40年的血腥掩盖”......

  当地时间5月21日,与“血液污染丑闻”相关的报道占据了英国各大报纸的头版头条。

  综合英国广播公司(BBC)、《卫报》等媒体报道,此前一天(20日),一项历时多年的调查报告公布,调查显示受污染血液事件造成至少3000人死亡,数千人感染肝炎或艾滋病毒。且该事件“不是一个意外”,存在故意掩盖丑闻的行为。

  An infected blood scandal in Britain was no accident but the fault of doctors and a succession of governments that led to 3,000 deaths and thousands more contracting hepatitis or HIV, a public inquiry reported on Monday.

  当天,英国首相苏纳克就此事正式道歉,称这是“英国的国家耻辱日”,并承诺将“不惜一切代价”赔偿受害者。

  Rishi Sunak declared Monday a “day of shame for the British state” as he apologized for the failures of successive governments over the infected blood scandal and promised to pay whatever it takes to compensate the victims.

  据报道,苏纳克在英国议会下议院猛烈批评了英国政府,强调英国历届各级部长、公务员系统和国民医疗服务体系的失败。

  “这是英国国家的耻辱日。调查报告表明,我们国家生活的核心存在长达数十年之久的道德失败。事情本不该如此。我代表本届政府,以及自20世纪70年代以来的每一届政府,向人民致以深深的歉意。我想为这种可怕的不公正行为,作出衷心和诚挚的道歉。”苏纳克说。

  He said: “This is a day of shame for the British state. Today’s report shows a decades-long moral failure at the heart of our national life, from the National Health Service to the civil service to ministers in successive governments, at every level that people and institutions in which we place our trust failed in the most harrowing and devastating way.”

  Sunak added: “This is an apology from the state to every single person impacted by this scandal. It did not have to be this way; it should never have been this way. And on behalf of this and every government stretching back to the 1970s, I am truly sorry.”

  苏纳克称,英国政府将于21日公布一项赔偿计划,“无论实施该计划的成本如何,我们都会支付”。

  报道称,苏纳克已授权提供约100亿英镑(折合人民币约为920亿元)的赔偿金,这笔资金将通过政府额外借款提供资金,并计入资本支出,以避免违反英国政府的借款目标。

  美国进口血液中含多种病毒

  英国污染血丑闻可追溯到上世纪70年代到90年代初。据BBC报道,当时,英国约有5000名血友病或其他血液病患者,在接受英国国家医疗服务系统的血液治疗后,发现感染了艾滋病和肝炎病毒。

  In the 1970s and 1980s, those with hemophilia, a condition affecting the blood’s ability to clot, became exposed to what was sold as a revolutionary new treatment derived from blood plasma. In the United Kingdom, the NHS, which treats the vast majority of people, started using the new treatment in the early 1970s.

  报道指出,这是因为患者被注射了用于帮助化解血块的血液制品。这是上世纪70年代初英国引入的一种治疗方法。英国公立医院使用的是一种包含第八凝血因子(又叫抗血友病球蛋白)的血浆产品,由于英国国内供应不足,这种产品从美国进口,其中很多携带艾滋病、肝炎等病毒。

  Demand soon outstripped domestic sources of supply, so health officials began importing Factor VIII from the United States, where a high proportion of plasma donations came from prisoners and drug users who were paid to donate blood. That dramatically raised the risk of the plasma being contaminated.

  到了上世纪80年代中期,英国NHS开始对这些血液产品进行过热处理,以杀死病毒。但对于在此之前官方知道出了多少问题,以及为什么一些被污染的制品仍在使用,目前依然存在很多疑问。

  英国NHS对血液制品的筛查始于1991年。上世纪90年代末,英国对血友病的合成治疗方法已经采用,因此消除了感染风险。但传染的问题已经持续了20多年。

  调查报告显示,近3000人因此死亡(注:这一数字每周还在增加)。此外,因为手术需要输血者也可能接触到被污染的血液制品,这一患者人数多达3万。

  The inquiry heard estimates that more than 30,000 people were infected from compromised blood or blood products via transfusions or Factor VIII. About 3,000 have since died and more deaths will follow.

  英国政府故意隐瞒

  2008年,英国前法官布赖恩·兰斯塔夫(Brian Langstaff)被指定领导这项大规模的公开调查。经过多年的工作,听取了数千名证人的证词并审查了数万份文件后,当地时间5月20日,兰斯塔夫公布了2527页的调查报告。

  Former judge Brian Langstaff, who chaired the inquiry, slammed successive governments and medical professionals for “a catalogue of failures” and refusal to admit responsibility to save face and expense. He found that deliberate attempts were made to conceal the scandal, and there was evidence of government officials destroying documents.

  报告发现,血液污染丑闻“本来可以在很大程度上被避免”,但有人故意试图掩盖这场灾难,历届政府“没有将患者的安全放在首位”。

  “This disaster was not an accident. The infections happened because those in authority— doctors, the blood services and successive governments — did not put patient safety first,” he said. “The response of those in authority served to compound people’s suffering.”

  “这场灾难不是一场意外。人们相信医生和政府会保证他们的安全,但这种信任被辜负了。”兰斯塔夫说。

  在2022年7月和2023年4月的两份临时报告中,兰斯塔夫已提出了给予受害者及其家属至少每人10万英镑(折合人民币约为92万元)的赔偿建议。但英国政府在赔偿问题上“进展缓慢”。截至目前,仅有约4000名受害者家庭收到赔偿金。

  兰斯塔夫表示,“这就是为什么我建议现在就支付赔偿金。虽然可能已经很晚了,但我认为还不算太晚:现在终于到了国家承认这场灾难、给予适当赔偿和为所有遭受如此巨大损失的人平反的时候了。”

  血液污染丑闻的受害者、现年58岁的沃里克(Richard Warwick)告诉《卫报》,虽然赔偿无法挽回任何人的健康,也无法挽回他们失去的孩子,但政府必须解决赔偿问题。

  “政府一拖再拖,我们错过了太多。”沃里克说。

本文关键字: 新概念英语

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