Background
Since the 1940s, the blood system had largely been the responsibility of the Canadian Red Cross Society. This independent charitable body supplied donated blood to hospitals or, if the blood was past its expiry date, gave it to Connaught Laboratories, the major producer of blood products in Canada. Connaught had initially been a non-profit company operated by the University of Toronto; by the 1980s it had been sold into the private sector.
In the late 1970s a crisis emerged. Thousands of people were being infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. It became apparent that inadequately screened blood, often coming from high risk populations, was entering the system.
Read more about this topic: Royal Commission Of Inquiry On The Blood System In Canada
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