Australia issues a national apology to families and survivors of the Thalidomide

 Australia issues a national apology to families and survivors of the Thalidomide

Australia issues a national apology to families and survivors of the Thalidomide

The prime minister of Australia has apologized on behalf of the country to the families and survivors of the thalidomide disaster.

It happens almost 60 years after a medication used to treat morning sickness started to cause birth abnormalities in infants worldwide.

"This apology represents one of the darkest periods in the history of Australian medicine," Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday in parliament.

The government has finally officially recognized its part in the disaster for the first time.

"To the survivors: we sincerely regret the suffering that thalidomide has brought about for each and every one of you on a daily basis. We apologize. Mr. Albanese informed the survivors, "We are more saddened than we can express." Speaking to the assembly of his friends, he remarked. Family in the room.

Although the precise number of impacted individuals in Australia is yet unclear, since 2020, over 140 survivors have applied for the program's financial aid.

According to a 2019 study, authorities may have prevented 20% of Australia's thalidomide cases if they had taken action sooner.

The 61-year-old survivor Trish Jackson expressed her hope to the BBC that the apology will provide the families with "a little peace".

"[But] this ought to have been done years ago, while the mother and parents were still living. Even some survivors passed away without ever knowing."

The drug thalidomide, which was created in Germany in the 1950s, was first prescribed globally as a treatment for morning sickness after being used as a sedative or tranquilizer.

Reports of birth abnormalities rose with greater usage; these anomalies often manifested as noticeably smaller organs.

The world was first made aware of the risks associated with thalidomide in 1961 by an Australian article published in The Lancet medical magazine. Shortly after, the drug was taken off the market.

At that time, 10,000 babies were thought to have been born disabled worldwide.

Survivors have been fighting for compensation and acknowledgement of wrongdoing for decades.

In 1991, Canada started providing financial support to survivors, while the UK apologized to the injured people on a national level in 2010.

However, Australia did not move to protect survivors until a historic Senate investigation in 2019.

Under its financial plan, survivors received an initial lump sum payment of up to A$500,000 ($332,000; £261,000); thereafter, they would get yearly payments ranging from A$5,000 to A$60,000.

Mr. Albanese revived the program on Wednesday "to ensure that anyone who missed the previous possibility to apply does not miss out," after it had been closed to new candidates.