The prime minister issued his apology in a packed House of Commons chamber, hours after Sir Brian Langstaff published his report which accused the British government of covering up the disaster.
Sunak spared no element of the British government in his criticism, which highlighted failures by ministers, civil servants and the NHS.
But he was also accused of deepening victims' pain by not setting up a compensation scheme a year ago when it was first recommended by Langstaff.
He said: "This is a day of shame for the British state. Today's report shows a decades-long moral failure at the heart of our national life from the National Health Service to the civil service to ministers in successive governments at every level that people and institutions in which we place our trust failed in the most harrowing and devastating way."
Sunak added: "This is an apology from the state to every single person impacted by this scandal. It did not have to be this way; it should never have been this way. And on behalf of this and every government stretching back to the 1970s, I am truly sorry."
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