Groups representing 1,600 people in Europe and North America left disabled by the drug thalidomide on Sunday united in calls for compensation of several billion euros from the German government and Chemie Grunenthal, the company that first developed it.

Associations from Germany, the UK, Spain, Sweden and Canada – among the countries most affected when the drug was launched 50 years ago – called for a sharp rise in monthly support, help with medical care and one-off payments averaging €1m ($1.5m, £750,000) per person.