Financial support for people in Scotland affected by the contaminated blood scandal is to be strengthened with an extra £20 million over the next three years.
The Scottish Government made the announcement as it accepted the key financial recommendations of the group established to look into the financial arrangements.
Hundreds of people in Scotland, many of whom were haemophiliac patients, were infected with hepatitis C and HIV through contaminated blood and blood products by the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s.
Following the publication last March of the findings of the six-year Penrose inquiry into infected NHS blood, Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison set up the independent Financial Review Group.
It recommended those infected with HIV, or who developed advanced Hepatitis C, should get £27,000 per year - the equivalent of the average Scottish salary - an increase from the offer of £15,000.
Ms Robison confirmed on Friday she has accepted in full the financial recommendations put forward by the group which involved patient and family representatives.
A new Scottish support and assistance grants scheme will be established to administer financial support, with funding for it increasing from £300,000 to £1 million per year.
Current support packages for those affected by infected blood are delivered through UK-wide schemes.
The recommendations also include increasing annual payments for people with both HIV and hepatitis C from £30,000 to £37,000.
When a recipient dies, their spouse or civil partner will continue to receive 75% of their annual payment.
Those infected with chronic hepatitis C will receive a £50,000 lump sum payment - previously £20,000.
Ms Robison said: "Infected blood is one of the most terrible chapters in the history of our NHS.
"Those affected have suffered dreadful impacts on their health, life expectancy and quality of life, including financial losses.
"It is quite right that they and their families are given adequate support to help them cope with consequences for which they are entirely blameless.
"I am pleased today to be able to accept the key financial recommendations in full. This will mean a substantial package of additional financial support, recognising the hardships many face."
Patrick McGuire, partner with Thompsons Solicitors and the lawyer representing the majority of victims, said it was "an extremely important day".
"There are still issues to be resolved surrounding the different categories of victims and that full compensation for those affected has yet to be delivered but we will continue to work with the Scottish Government on this," he said.
Bill Wright, of Haemophilia Scotland, said: "No scheme can truly make up for the loss of life, and health, caused by this disaster.
"The Cabinet Secretary has acknowledged that there is more to be done once these schemes move to Scotland. However, today, we have made historic progress."
Just under 3,000 people acquired the hepatitis C virus from either blood transfusions between 1970 and 1991 or from blood product therapy while 78 acquired HIV, according to the Penrose inquiry.
Philip Dolan, convener of the Scottish Infected Blood Forum (SIBF), said: "We welcome the Scottish Government's statement, which is a step forward in obtaining some justice for victims.
"SIBF and partner organisations will continue to lobby and argue for a full, fair and equal settlement for the needs of the majority, who seek to live out the remainder of their lives with financial stability and dignity."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here