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Earlier, Marcel Verweij and Roland Pierik argued in an opinion piece in the Parool that behaviour should weigh more heavily in blood donation. The expectation is that soon, also gay men who are not in a long-term monogamous relationship but do have safe sex can donate. However, the absolute risk remains small.Īccording to the researchers, this decision is only a first step in the direction that they call for. However, this did not apply to Northern Ireland until 2020. In the second option the risk of HIV would increase a little, because infections can only be measured after a while. The UK since November 2017 has implemented a 3-month deferral policy on all gay/bi men who want to donate their blood. Alternatively, a blood bank can screen the blood of donors biomedically, in which case they do not have to ask any questions about sexual behaviour anymore. They are allowed to donate tissue only if they have not had sex. They are allowed to donate certain organs after HIV testing, but the transplant program is notified that the organ comes from a deceased man who had sex with other men in the past year.
#Can gay men donate blood update
The researchers recommend two ethical options: every gay man can be assessed based on his individual situation. Currently, gay men face severe restrictions when it comes to donating organs, tissue or blood. The FDA's update also loosened blood donation restrictions applied to women who have had sex with gay or bisexual men as well as donors who have recently acquired tattoos or piercings. And a single blood donation can go into the arms of three different people, the American Red Cross. Because men who have unsafe sex with men have a higher risk on infectious diseases, these rights are in conflict in blood donation. Gay men still can’t donate, tweeted Jared Polis, a Democratic congressman who’s gay. Verweij and Pierik studied the balance between the right on equal treatment and the right on health. Since the mid-80s, men who have had sex with men (MSM) have been ineligible to donate blood based on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy. Sanquin writes: “Based on the report of Marcel Verweij and Roland Pierik and the advice of the medical advisory council of Sanquin, we have concluded that there are no problems with the transfusion safety to be expected if the current blood donor selection policy for homosexual men turns into a more individually focused assessment of risk behaviour”. The policy began in 1992 as an outright ban on gay men donating blood following a tainted blood scandal. But in the philosophical-ethical report of Verweij and Pieirik, they concluded among other things that policy should not only be focused on reducing the health risks, but also on the right of equal treatment. This is because of a heightened risk of infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and HIV.
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Currently, men who have sex with men can only donate blood if they have not had sex in the last four months.