THOUSANDS of survivors of the infected blood scandal will finally receive compensation after long campaigns, the government announced today.

An estimated 2,400 people died after being infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and ’80s.

Most had the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia and relied on regular injections of factor VIII imported from the US to survive.

They were unaware they were receiving contaminated factor VIII from people who were being paid to donate, including prisoners and drug addicts.

The government said it intends to make payments to those infected and bereaved partners by the end of October.

The inquiry on compensation will continue until next year.

Campaigners say the announcement fails to recognise most family members affected by the scandal, who will miss out on this raft of interim payments.

Mark Fox, 44, who contracted hepatitis C after being treated with a contaminated blood product for haemophilia as a child, said the announcement was important because it represented an acknowledgement of wrongdoing.

He said: “It’s not about compensation, it’s about someone saying sorry.

“It’s that they tried to hide it and so many people tried to brush it under the carpet — if you mucked up, have the balls to accept it. Grow up, be an adult.”

Rosemary Calder, whose 25-year-old son Nicky died in 1999 with HIV after being given an infected blood product, said the wait continues for bereaved families.

Ms Calder, whose family moved from north London to Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire after her son was called “Aids boy” at school, said: “Again, parents and children who have lost loved ones are just ignored.

“The parents feel so disheartened and despondent that they can’t get recognition.

“So many parents suffered financially because they had to give up work, had to move house because of all the stigma, people lost their jobs — that has never been acknowledged.

“I think [the interim compensation] is a step in the right direction but there’s a long way to go.”

Haemophilia Society chief executive Kate Burt said: “Steps must be taken now to set up a workable scheme which can deliver full compensation quickly and fairly to all those who suffered devastating loss because of this NHS treatment disaster.”

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner welcomed the news of compensation and demanded payments are made urgently.

She said: “It’s shameful that is has taken until Boris Johnson was forced out of office to see action for victims.

“This government only acts when they are forced into it, dragging their feet.”