PEOPLE are still being diagnosed with Hepatitis C each month following the contaminated blood scandal, a charity has said.

The Hepatitis C Trust urged anyone who had a blood transfusion before 1991 to be checked for hepatitis C, warning that delayed diagnoses can lead to irreparable liver damage and that many will have had “vague” symptoms which means GPs may not have realised that they were infected.

Samantha May, who runs its helpline, said that many people who have had the condition for decades will have gone “back and forward” to their doctor with a range of symptoms, but it is only when serious problems arise that they get diagnosed.

Tens of thousands were infected with hepatitis or HIV when they were given infected blood or blood products in the 1970s, ’80s or early ’90s after accidents, operations or during childbirth.

At least 3,000 have died as a result and the public inquiry into the scandal is due to publish its final report on May 20.

Ahead of this, former pupils of a specialist school where boys with haemophilia were given contaminated blood in the 1970s and ’80s met with Cabinet Office minister John Glen.

Gary Webster, Steve Nicholls, Adrian Goodyear and Richard Warwick, who attended the Lord Mayor Treloar College, said people affected by the scandal should be given a lifetime commitment of financial aid, like victims of the thalidomide scandal were promised in 2021 by then chancellor Rishi Sunak.

A government spokesman said: “We are clear that justice needs to be done and swiftly, which is why we have acted in amending the Victims and Prisoners Bill.”