Blood donation restrictions to be lifted. Maybe.

8/9/2011

http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/

The lifetime ban on gay men giving blood is likely to be lifted. Reports suggest it will be recommended only gay men who have been celibate for a decade be allowed to donate blood. The ban on gay men donating blood was introduced in the 1980s in a bid to reduce risk of HIV contamination in donor blood.

The UK will be following Japan, South Africa and Australia who have begun to relax the rules regarding gay men giving blood. In a recent survey at Brighton Gay Pride it was estimated 95% of gay men were willing to give blood.

You can find out where and when you can donate blood in England and North Wales here, http://www.blood.co.uk/ , Wales here http://www.welsh-blood.org.uk/giving-blood/and in Scotland here http://www.scotblood.co.uk/

3 Comments

Gareth

7/9/2011 10:00:52 pm

The ban really is pointless.

Donations are so low in the UK we have to purchase blood from abroad, including from Australia which as you said relaxed the rules some time back.

Glen

10/9/2011 03:52:48 am

"It's totally not a ban, we only ask that they haven't done anything to put them at higher risk of HIV in the past decade (I heard it was actually going to be 12 months in line with other at risk groups and Australias policy)"

It seems to come as a surprise to policy writers that it is possible for gay men to have safer sex and that the vast majority of us do so almost-if-not-all of the time. The suggestion that any and all anal or oral sex (ORAL sex!? Have they seen the estimated transmission rates for only oral insemination?) between two men places them 'at risk' regardless of their safer sex practises is flagrant bullshit and should be treated as such.

Louise link

10/9/2011 08:36:23 pm

Couldn't agree more Glen, the idea that gay men are more at risk no matter what safer sex practices they use IS bullshit. I hadn't even realised they cite oral sex, that's insane.

I can't find the link right now, but I remember learning (as part of volunteering for a sexual health charity) about 6 years ago that rates of HIV infection were increasing most rapidly in white heterosexuals, as people in that group had got the message that they weren't at risk and so felt confident not having safer sex...

The ban has made me feel uneasy about giving blood sometimes, but as it's so important I have continued to do so as often as possible, and try to combine that with asking awkward questions about the ban whenever possible

Blood donation restrictions to be lifted. Maybe.

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