Safety and Supply Issues from Consumers Point of View

Abstract

The attitude of people with haemophilia to blood and blood products and their perception of risk have been moulded by their experience in the past, by their current concerns, by the communication they receive and by the fact that they are long-term users of blood products. In the 1980’s, the haemophilia community was devastated by HIV infection. 40% of people with haemophilia in Western Europe were infected with HIV [1]. 60% of people with haemophilia were infected with Hepatitis B and 70% with Hepatitis C. The leading cause of death in people with haemophilia is AIDS followed by liver disease with bleeding coming a distant third. The average life expectancy of a man with severe haemophilia was 60 years in 1980 and by 1994 this had fallen to 42 years. The clinically serious sequelae of Hepatitis C have become more apparent in recent years [2].