Aftermath of the Krever Report

• Almost Nine in Ten (87%) Believe there is a Moral Obligation to Provide Compensation to Those Who Contracted Hepatitis "C"
• Strong Majority (95%) Say Both Levels of Government Should Make Identifying and Treating Those Who Have Been Infected a Priority, Regardless of Cost
• 95% Believe Health Officials Should Make it a Priority to Find and Notify Those Who May Have Been Infected

Almost nine in ten Canadians (87%) believe that the federal and provincial governments have a moral obligation to compensate people who contracted Hepatitis "C" through the blood system. More than nine in ten (95%) agree (81% strongly, 14% somewhat) that even though it may be costly, people who received blood or blood products between 1979 and 1993 should be identified and informed that they may have become infected with Hepatitis "C" and that health officials should make it a priority to find and notify those who may have been infected. (Download table in .pdf format)

These are some of the findings of a National Angus Reid Group Poll conducted by telephone between December 29th, 1997 and January 6th, 1998 among a representative cross-section of 1,500 adult Canadians. A sample of this size is said to have an associated margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

Other survey findings include:

• A majority of Canadians (59%) are aware of Justice Krever's final report on The Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System.
• 55% believe that people become infected with Hepatitis "C" as a result of blood transfusions.
• More than three quarters of Canadians (77%) believe that Hepatitis "C" can be fatal.

This Canada-wide poll was conducted by telephone between December 29th, 1997 and January 6th, 1998 among a representative cross-section of 1,500 adult Canadians.

The data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's age composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

With a national sample of 1,500, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results are within ±2.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within the various sub-groupings of the survey population.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

W. John Wright
Senior Vice President
Angus Reid Group, Inc.
(416) 324-2900