'Contaminated blood disaster' report due

In the 1970s and 80s hundreds of people in Scotland were given contaminated blood by the NHS - some were infected with HIV, and many have since died.

The Penrose Inquiry was set up to examine how this happened, and what lessons can be learned to prevent it from happening again.

It's findings will be published today.

The charity Haemophilia Scotland has estimated the affect the contaminated blood is likely to have had:

The report has examined how the NHS collected, treated and supplied blood and investigated what patients were told, how they were monitored and why they became infected.

Some of the infected blood came from paid donors in the US, including drug addicts, STV has reported.

In the UK, the NHS used blood from various sources, including prisoners in Scotland’s jails, where the rates of infection were high.

The chair of the inquiry, Lord Penrose, is unable to attend the launch in Edinburgh as he is said to be seriously ill in hospital.