British Prime Minister Sunak has made a public apology over a blood contamination scandal

British Prime Minister Sunak apologized for the "failures" of successive British governments after the results of an investigation into the blood contamination scandal were released, calling the day a National Day of infamy for Britain and promising to compensate victims no matter the cost.

"On behalf of this government, and every government since the 1970s, I offer my deepest apologies to the people," Sunak said Monday in a speech in the House of Commons, the British parliament, Xinhua reported. "I want to offer a wholehearted and unequivocal apology for this terrible injustice," he said.

The British blood contamination scandal dates back to the 1970s and early 1990s. At the time, Britain was struggling to be self-sufficient in blood donations and sought help from the United States to meet the growing demand. But some of the imported blood comes from high-risk donors such as prisoners and drug users, resulting in some blood contaminated with the love virus and hepatitis C virus.

In a 2,500-page report released Monday, Langstaff condemned the failures of "successive governments, the National Health Service and the blood service."

The report states that imported blood products used to treat many people are unsafe and should not be licensed for use in the UK; Large numbers of patients exposed to unacceptable risk of infection; The incident caused 30,000 people to contract the AIDS virus, or hepatitis C virus, through blood products, and has so far killed about 3,000 people. British media say the numbers are increasing every week. In addition, the report also revealed that since 1993, the UK health system staff "deliberately" destroyed relevant documents, amounting to a "widespread cover-up."

Speaking after the report's release, Sunak said the inquiry's report should "shake our nation to its core" and showed "a decades-long moral failure at the heart of our national life."

Sunak accused the NHS Confederation, the civil service and government officials of "letting the country down", saying those "in positions of power and trust had time and time again the opportunity to stop the spread of these infections and time and time again they failed to do so".

British media say the blood contamination scandal is the worst medical disaster in the history of the NHS Confederation.