A RISCA haemophiliac who was infected with a life threatening virus in an NHS transfusion says that additional support being provided by the Assembly Government is still not enough.

Wayne Gambin, 36, has lived with liver-damaging Hepatitis C since he was given a contaminated blood product used to treat his haemophilia at the age of two.

Mr Gambin has already accepted a £20,000 payout in compensation but says that the news Hepatitis C sufferers in Wales will now get the same level of financial support as sufferers in England is not as positive as it seems.

Health Minister Edwina Hart announced this week the package of measures will see people who have contracted Hepatitis C and developed serious liver disease receive an annual payment of £12,800.

There will also be an increase in the one-off payment already made to those with the most serious hepatitis C-related disease from £25,000 to £50,000.

But for people such as Mr Gambin who suffer from mild Hepatitis C, he says he will not benefit from any more payments.

The father-of-three says he contracted Hepatitis C through a clotting agent product given to him at the University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff.

He only found out he had the virus when he was 18 and says there is little doctors can do to treat the disease, which slowly scars the liver of sufferers and eventually leads to cirrhosis.

Patients who face the search for a liver transplant could die within 12 months.

Mr Gambin said: "Because I haven't developed cirrhosis or chronic liver disease yet, I won't get any extra payment but I am still suffering from Hepatitis C so I am still affected."

Mr Gambin, who has described the disease as a "death sentence, said he will now keep on fighting to get better payments for everyone affected by the disease.

An Assembly Government spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases but everyone in Wales that meets the criteria set will benefit from payments as they do in England."