Awareness of the Infected Blood Scandal
Four in five UK adults have heard of the Infected Blood Scandal
The proportion of those who know about the Infected Blood Scandal has remained consistent since November 2025. One in five (20%) know a lot/a fair amount, and just under a fifth (17%) have never heard of it.
The older people are, the more likely they are to have heard of the Infected Blood Scandal. People aged 55+ are significantly more likely to have heard of the Infected Blood Scandal than those aged 34 or under, (95% vs 63%).
| December 2025 | August 2026 | |
| A lot | 3% | 3% |
| A fair amount | 19% | 17% |
| A little | 36% | 38% |
| Heard about | 22% | 23% |
| Never heard of | 16% | 17% |
| % Net: Heard of | 81% | 80% |
Awareness of the Infected Blood Scandal remains lower than other scandals
People know more about Grenfell and the British Post Office Scandal than the Infected Blood Scandal. More than half know a lot / a fair amount about Grenfell (65%) and the Post Office (59%), while a fifth (20%) know a lot / a fair amount about the Infected Blood Scandal.
Those aged 55+ are also more likely to have heard of and have more knowledge about Grenfell and the Post Office Scandal compared to younger people (71% of those aged 55 or over know a lot / a fair amount about Grenfell compared to 57% of those aged 18-34 and 73% of those aged 55 or over know a lot / a fair amount about the Post Office compared to 37% of those aged 18-34).
People who say they know a lot/ fair amount about the Infected Blood Scandal are more likely to know a lot / fair amount about the other scandals, Grenfell (97% vs 72% who had heard of it) and the Post Office Scandal (92% vs 73%).
| A lot / a fair amount | A little / heard about | Never heard of | % Net Heard of (August 2026) | % Net: Heard of (December 2025) | |
| Infected Blood Scandal | 20% | 60% | 17% | 80% | 81% |
| Grenfell Tower Fire | 65% | 31% | - | 96% | 95% |
| British Post Office Scandal | 59% | 31% | - | 92% | 91% |
Around a third of people have recently seen or heard the Infected Blood Scandal talked about
Those who knew a lot about IBCA are more likely to have heard or seen it talked about in the news recently (41% vs 32%).
| December 2025 | August 2026 | |
| Yes | 38% | 32% |
| No | 59% | 66% |
| Don’t know / prefer not to say | 3% | 2% |
Those who have heard about it recall general news about the scandal, although some mention delays in delivering compensation
| % Net: Specifics about the Infected Blood Scandal | 36% |
| Contaminated blood transfusions / products | 23% |
| Information about the scandal | 11% |
| Infected blood supplies from the US to the UK | 4% |
| Number of people impacted | 3% |
| % Net: Compensation scheme | 23% |
| Delays / waiting a long time for settlement | 11% |
| People dying before being paid compensation | 5% |
| Impact on those infected and their families | 5% |
Comments from respondents included:
- “People received transfusions of blood or blood products and the donated blood had not been adequately checked for blood born viruses, so the recipients became infected with the viruses which included Hep B, Hep C and HIV. Sometimes they only discovered they were infected years later.”
- “The use of contaminated blood products used to treat patients of all ages.”
- “I have heard that people are being offered compensation but it isn't very much and it's taken so long to come that lots of people involved have died.”
- “That families are still fighting for justice the way people were treated over this scandal.”
- “Groups trying to get justice for their relatives who have suffered because of the infected blood samples.”