THE need for the next tribunal on blood product contamination to have Factor 8 included in its terms was emphasised by Dr Mary Henry.

Noting that the Minister for Health had undertaken to set up a further tribunal to look into the contamination of blood products for haemophiliacs by HIV and hepatitis C, Dir Henry said she had written to Mr Noonan asking him to include the contamination of Factor 8 by hepatitis A, which had taken place in the early 1990s and which was the reason why she had brought her worries to the Seanad in 1994 about the rapid importation of anti D.

The Minister should seriously consider including this episode of contamination within the remit of a new tribunal. To her amazement, during the recent hepatitis C tribunal she had heard from witnesses that this contamination episode had never been resolved.

Dr Henry said she had attended the tribunal on a regular basis and had been impressed at how well organised and informative it had been.