BBC News
By Jim Reed
image copyrightuk parliament
image captionAs Ken Clarke, he served as a health minister and then health secretary in the Conservative government
The government was right to say there was no conclusive proof that Aids could be transmitted by blood products in 1983, a public inquiry has heard.
Giving evidence, former health minister Lord Clarke said the phrase was entirely accurate at the time.
But documents show senior health officials thought it likely HIV could be carried in blood.
Survivors have accused ministers of misleading the public by playing down fears of infection.
The first reliable blood test for HIV was only available in March 1985, after many haemophiliacs had already been infected with the virus through a product called Factor VIII.
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