STILL MORE RESTRICTIONS ON GAY AND BI DONORS
CALLS have been made to change blood donation rules so that all donors – regardless of gender or sexuality – face the same questions and eligibility criteria.
The calls come as a national shortage in blood has forced the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to import a consignment from the NHS Blood Donation service in England.
A total of 115 units of Rhesus Negative blood groups — O Negative, A Negative and B Negative — were collected in Manchester at the end of July.
Ireland has not imported blood since the late 1990s but the Irish Blood Transfusion Service occasionally imports a small number of rare blood units. People of all blood types are also being urged to donate here. Now,FineGaelTDJenniferCarroll MacNeill an d
Senator Jerry
Buttimer are leading calls to extend the criteria for blood donors in line with the UK.
They UK recently changed their blood donation rules so that all donors, regardless of gender or sexuality, face the same questions and eligibility.
However, men in
Ireland are still subject to such discriminatary rules.
Senator Buttimer said: “A lifelong ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men was introduced during the HIV epidemic in the 1980s and was only changed relatively recently in Ireland.
Deferral
“This ban was reviewed by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service ( IBTS) in 2016 in light of changes to deferral criteria in other countries. In 2017, due to data which showed no increase in the number of HIV positive blood donations since the change in policy, the lifelong ban was removed and replaced with a one-year deferral.
“Despite the removal of the lifelong ban, gay and bisexual men in Ireland still face overly restrictive rules on donating blood.
“Currently, a man who has had sex with another man in the past 12 months is not eligible to donate blood. Even if he has used a condom or is taking the HIV medication PrEP, once a man has had sex with a man in the last 12 months, he is automatically excluded.
“Our cur rent rules are outdated, discriminatory and unfair.
“Neither women nor heterosexual men face the same level of scrutiny — why should gay and bisexual men be subject to different rules than anyone else? The rules must be based on an accurate assessment of each individual’s risk of infection, and not on sexuality or gender.”
Fine Gael Equality spokesperson Jennifer Carroll MacNeill added: “Not only do donors in the UK now face a fairer and more efficient screening process, these new rules are likely to result in an increase in blood donations.
“Now more than ever, we desperately need more blood donations.
Disparity
“If we are asking our citizens to donate, then we need to ensure the opportunity is available to everyone and the process of doing so is fair and objective.
“Due to the change in UK donation rules, there is now a disparity between the UK and Irish eligibility criteria.
“Back in 2016, the IBTS looked at what other countries around the world were doing and introduced changes to progress Ireland’s regulations to be in line with our international counterparts.
“That was five years ago, and the time has now come to look to our international neighbours once again to advance our policies.
“Ireland has been a pio neer in leading the way internationally for LGBT rights, but we’re falling behind when it comes to this issue.
“The fact of the matter is quite simple — being able to donate blood in Ireland should not be based on your gender or your sexuality.
“We are already facing severe blood shortages, and we can’t wait any longer for progress on this issue.
“I understand that the IBTS has establ ished an independent ‘Advisory Committee for Social Behaviours Review’ to review the evidence base for donor selection, deferral and exclusion.
“The committee is due to conclude its work this month and submit its report to the IBTS.
“We are calling on Minister Stephen Donnelly to work with the IBTS to ensure the committee’s work is completed by the end of this month, and ultimately to bring about changes to ensure our rules are fai r, safe and non- discriminatory.”