In recent years, countries around the world have revised their blood donation guidelines for homosexual and bisexual men and other men who have sexual relations with men. The United States lifted the lifetime ban on MSM blood donations in 2015 and replaced it with a deferral policy of one year that allows for donors to donate blood as long as they keep sexually away from sex for 12 months. The controversy over MSM blood donors in the UK is called a “deferral policy” and men who have sex with a man who is MSM in the UK and wish to donate their blood to the NHS, Blood Transplant England, the Welsh Blood Service in Wales, ScotBlood in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service in Northern Ireland.
Other countries followed suit, with Italy and Spain implementing a delay policy based on an individual risk assessment of sexual orientation. A ban on sexually active gay and bisexual men donating blood, platelets and plasma to non-sexual men has been lifted in England, Scotland and Wales.
People who want to donate blood, regardless of gender, are still asked if they have ever had sexual activity or are sexually active recently. The new rules, which came into force Monday to mark World Blood Donor Day, will not check donors if they are a man or have had sex with a man, said NHS Blood Transplant.
Gay and bisexual men who have had at least one sexual partner in the last three months can donate to a non-profit organization, allowing more people to donate without increasing the risk of infection. Donors will be asked the same gender-neutral questions when they donate blood. All sexually active gay and bisexual men who fall under these criteria will be able to donate blood to England from the summer of 2021.
Existing UK policy requires men who have sexual relations with men to suspend oral and anal sex with them for three months before they donate. This is similar to current policy in the US that changed the postponement of the donation of 12 months of abstinence to three months earlier this year, after it has been banned for life since 1977. The historic new rules mean donors no longer have to question whether they are a man or have had sex with a man, said the NHS Blood Transplant.
As historic new rules come into force, Gay and Bisexual men are now allowed to donate blood, platelets and plasma. The new funding guidelines, which came into force on Monday, mean donors in England, Scotland and Wales will no longer be asked whether they are a man who has had sex with another man. People who have been with the same sexual partner for the past three months are now eligible to donate blood, so that gay or bisexual men can now donate blood and platelets to ensure blood safety, added it.
The government announced changes to blood donation rules that will lead to an individualised risk assessment of potential donors. The organization said eligibility would be based on individual circumstances related to health, travel and sexual behavior as well as a high risk of sexual infections. The changes will lead to a review of the three-month deferral period for gay, bisexual and other men who have sexual relations with men.
Eligibility to donate blood is based on behaviours without blanket rules based on gender or sexuality. Eligibility will be based on individual circumstances affecting health, travel and sexual behaviour, as well as those proved to be high-risk for sexual infection, NHS Blood Transplant said. Changes to donor safety checks and forms will affect donors of blood, plasma and platelets, but the blood donation process will not change.
In England, Scotland and Wales, gay and bisexual men can donate blood, plasma and platelets now under certain circumstances, the National Health Service announced in a monumental policy shift for most of the UK that began on Monday. Gay men who have been in an active, monogamous relationship for at least three months are now donating for the first time. The move reverses a policy that restricted donor eligibility to those deemed at risk of contracting HIV / AIDS or other sexually transmitted infections. Those who had anal sex in the last three months with a new partner or multiple partners won’t be able to donate blood, but may be entitled to do so in the future, the change said.
This week, new rules came into force that allow more men to have sexual sex with men to donate blood, platelets and plasma, a historic move to make blood donation more inclusive and to keep blood safe. The new rules come at a time when the UK and other countries around the world are reporting urgent pandemic-related problems with blood supply.
Eligibility is based on individual circumstances related to health, travel, sexual behaviour and evidence of a high risk of sexual infection. Today is the world blood donation day – Monday, and the questions have changed for those who register in England, Scotland and Wales to donate blood.
In 2019 the British Blood Service established the Fair Steering Group in partnership with Public Health England, Stonewall, the Terrence Higgins Trust and other groups to explore the possibility of individualised risk assessments of sexual behaviour and risk. In December 2020, the group published a report detailing changes to blood donation requirements to prevent including gays, bisexuals and other men who have sexual relations with men. Donors are no longer asked if they are a man or had sex with a man, eliminating an assessment element based on previous population risk.
The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissue and Organs has recommended that UK blood services implement changes to blood donation requirements to prevent excluding gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Gay and bisexual blood donors have been banned since the early 1980s, when fears were rife of HIV / AIDS.
Gay and bisexual men can donate blood now thanks to historical new rule changes in England, Scotland and Wales. On Tuesday, 14 June, donors will be asked about their sexual behavior in a gender-neutral way. People could donate until now only if they had the same sexual partner in the previous three months i.e. Gay or bisexual men who are in an active monogamous relationship can donate for the first time.
