One Department of Health document, from the 1990s, said there was “an obligation to remind health professionals and people who may have been infected”.
But the document, submitted to the public inquiry, continued: “We have so far avoided going down this road because of the resource implications for the NHS. Raising awareness poses undoubted difficulties.
“In terms of value for money, there may be better candidates for additional resources,” the BBC reported.
The report said that instead of prioritising care for those who had been harmed by NHS-provided blood, officials squeezed budgets as cost concerns took priority.
The Infected Blood Inquiry was finally announced in 2017, after years of campaigning by victims.
A government spokesman said the scandal was “an appalling tragedy that never should have happened” and that a new body would be set up to deliver compensation once victims and claims had been assessed.