18/12/2020
In a move that will be welcomed by many LGBTQ campaigners, a long standing piece of discriminatory medical practice is to come to an end. For decades, the National Blood Service, which oversees such services for the NHS, has had some form of bar on gay and bisexual men giving blood. For a long time, any man who had ever had sex with a man was prohibited from donating blood, a restriction introduced during the height of the AIDS Pandemic in 1984. Even when screening of blood allowed for detection of HIV, the Blood Service retained its ban. The way in which the ban was enforced caused divisions within the gay movement, with activist groups such as OutRage! regarding it as an outrageously discriminatory policy whilst the Terrence Higgins Trust supported some form of restriction to the donation of blood. In the last few years, men who had abstained from sexual intercourse with another male for three months were allowed to donate, in a relaxation of the rule. Now, finally, after a major consultation including the Department of Health, and a coalition of LGBTQ charities, the NHS has proposed a new system of screening those who wish to donated, based on risky behaviour rather than their sexuality per se. The NHS says “The biggest change will mean anyone who has the same sexual partner for more than three months will be eligible to donate if there is no known exposure to an STI or use of PreP or PEP. Donors will no longer be asked to declare if they have had sex with another man, making the criteria for blood donation gender neutral and more inclusive. A set of other deferrals will also be introduced for the other higher risk sexual behaviours identified, such as if a person recently had chemsex, and updated for anyone who has had syphilis”. Speaking for the National AIDS Trust, Deborah Gold said ““We welcome this step towards a fairer system of individualised, evidence-based assessment of risk for people who choose to donate blood. It’s important that the Government now builds on this to address the remaining inequalities in blood donation policies, such as restrictions for people who have ever injected drugs”.
