Iceland considers ending ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood
A chief epidemiologist has said Iceland should remove its ban on men who have sex with men donating blood.
Iceland鈥檚 Minister of Health Svand铆s Svavarsd贸ttir is awaiting the results of a review she ordered into the country鈥檚 current regulations, specifically citing on gay and bi men donating, .
鈥淚 believe that given what other people in Europe have done, we can leave behind a total ban and move on to having an abstinence period of some months,鈥� epidemiologist 脼贸r贸lfur Gu冒nason .
Iceland is currently one of at least 18 countries around the world which has an outright ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men.
鈥淔irst of all, in this group there is an increased chance that their blood could be carrying HIV or hepatitis C,鈥� said Gu冒nason, explaining his recommended.
鈥淭here are individuals in this group who are practicing safe sex, and are therefore not at risk, while there are others, with a more liberal sex life, who are more likely to spread these kinds of infections.鈥�
If Iceland were to drop its ban it would join Denmark, Malta, Taiwan, and Israel which have all made the same decision in the past year, although the new deferral periods their respective health bodies have implemented range from 4 months (Denmark) to 5 years (Taiwan).
In Australia there is currently a one year deferral period, meaning any man who has had sex with a man in the last 12 months is ineligible to give blood, regardless of their serostatus or personal risk of infection.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr to act to reduce the deferral period in December.
鈥淭here have been several occasions where I have sought to donate blood and I have been shocked that such an exclusion existed, particularly given the research and advances in testing,鈥� .
鈥淚 just think that we need to look at the science and make decisions that are based on science not on prejudice.鈥�
In early 2014 the Australian Red Cross Blood Service鈥檚 proposal that the sexual activity deferral period be changed from 12 months to 6, despite .
to bring forward its latest review into sexual activity deferral periods the Blood Service on the topic, but the contents of the report are yet to be made public.
The founder of Australia鈥檚 largest grassroots movement for people living with HIV , Nic Holas, about the importance of connecting the movement to end restrictions on blood donations to the fight to end HIV.
鈥淕ay and bi men in monogamous relationships may often wonder why they can鈥檛 donate blood. Shouldn鈥檛 it only be men engaging in activities that place them at risk of contracting HIV who are banned?鈥� he wrote.
鈥淎 portion of our community is more focused on outward respectability than our community鈥檚 health and wellbeing.
鈥淚鈥檝e said this before, but it bears repeating: the most inclusive, ethical way to allow gay or bi men to donate blood is to end HIV.
鈥淎nything else is a slap in the face for those of us living with the virus, an insult to the decades of activism and organising, and a forgetting of those lost to the AIDS crisis.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still here, and we鈥檙e not going to be pushed aside in the quest to make gay men seem more respectable. That isn鈥檛 equality, it鈥檚 erasure.
鈥淵ou should be able to donate blood. You should also be able to live free of fear of contracting HIV, of your friends contracting HIV, of finally being clear of decades of intergenerational fear and stigma. The latter would lead to the former. So why not join, or rejoin, the fight?鈥�
You May Also Like
