Statistical modelling is a better way to explore the safety of this approach, she says. Since HIV transmission risks are low, hundreds of thousands of men would need to be tested to confirm the safety of individualised risk assessments, she says. However, Mindy Goldman at Canadian Blood Services says that testing 26 men isn’t adequate to prove this point. “The blood will not be used medically in the current system, but to prove the point,” the organisers said. Their donations will now be tested to show that blood from “low-risk” men who have sex with men is safe to use. Before donating, participants filled out a questionnaire about their sexual behaviour. To try to prove the safety of this approach, Freedom to Donate invited 26 gay and bisexual men to donate blood at an “illegal blood bank” in a secret location in London on 23 November. It wants governments to introduce individualised risk assessments that would allow men who have sex with men with low-risk sexual behaviour – like those in monogamous relationships or who always use protection – to donate blood without having to abstain from sex. However, activist group Freedom to Donate says these new rules are still discriminatory because they group people together based on sexuality rather than individual behaviour.
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Canada moved to a three-month abstinence period in June, and France, Denmark and the Netherlands have approved four-month abstinence periods. Several other countries have followed the UK’s lead. In November 2017, England, Scotland and Wales shortened the time that men who have sex with men have to abstain from sex before donating blood to three months, on the advice of the UK’s Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs. However, modern screening tests can detect HIV and hepatitis within one month of a person being infected. In the US, for example, two-thirds of new HIV infections result from male-to-male sexual contact.Īll donated blood is tested before it is used, but it takes time for recent HIV and hepatitis infections to become detectable, which is why most countries ask that higher-risk donors avoid sex for a period of time before giving blood. Most rich countries, including the US and Australia, only allow men who have sex with men to donate blood if they have abstained from sex for at least 12 months, because men in these countries have a higher risk of getting HIV and hepatitis from sex.
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The government said the changes, which were recommended by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO), were “based on the most up to date scientific evidence and medical advances, which will offer more people the opportunity to donate blood without affecting the safety of the blood supply”.New rules that make it easier for gay and bisexual men in the UK to donate blood have been found to be safe, but equal rights campaigners say they don’t go far enough to eliminate discrimination. The blanket deferral period for gay men, which was intended to help prevent HIV contamination of blood supplies, came under increasing scrutiny for failing to reflect modern screening capabilities.Ĭhanges announced in July 2017 shortened the deferral period to three months – meaning gay men are only required to abstain from anal or oral sex for 12 weeks before being able to give blood.
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Last year in the UK the government relaxed rules that banned men who have sex with men from giving blood.īlood donation rules across the UK previously banned men who have sex with men from giving blood if they have been sexually active in the past 12 months. But the period of time is voided if the donor is in a relationship with one partner.