UK to allow gay men to donate blood

Gay men in the UK will soon be allowed to donate blood. It’s a policy shift that likely will increase the fear of contracting HIV through the transfusion of tainted blood. An article in the Telegraph says, “The ban on gay men donating blood is being lifted because it was decided that the rule could be discriminatory and might breach equality legislation.”

New American

But there are restrictions on gays giving blood. Gay men will only be permitted to donate blood if they have remained celibate for the last ten years. Any potential donor who admits to having engaged in sexual intercourse in the past decade will still be barred under the new scheme. The public health minister, Anne Milton, will announce the radical change within the next few weeks. She will reportedly be supported by Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, and Lynne Featherstone, the Equalities Minister.

And despite public concern over the blood donating, officals say that all of the blood is screened for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. In fairness, however, there are always a small number of diseases that evade detection and find their way into the blood supply. Should any HIV infected fluid be negligently permitted to be transfused into a recipient, the legal ramifications will be immeasurable. That doesn’t sound too convincing as safe, does it?

The new guidelines were promulgated by SABTO,the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs. The Committee reasoned that if the outright ban were lifted and replaced with a less restrictive rule that would prohibit homosexual men from giving blood for five years after having sex with another man, the risk of HIV reaching the blood supply would go up by less than 5 percent. New American

Now those in the UK among the population that have HIV, is estimated to be about 86,500, about 25 percent of whom do not know they are infected. Of those afflicted with the diseases, about 42 percent are homosexual men. And of course, advocacy groups are applauding the government decision to allow the blood donating…..

New American But in a recent report by the Family Research Council revealed, The 2003-2004 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census surveyed the lifestyles of 7,862 homosexuals. Of those involved in a “current relationship,” only 15 percent describe their current relationship as having lasted twelve years or longer, with five percent lasting more than twenty years.

Even though the plan in the UK sounds radical, similar challenges are also taking place in the US. At Michigan State University, the RHA held a blood drive where donors could simultaneously give blood and voice their opposition to a ban on homosexual performing the same activity. Monica Stoneking, Great Lakes Region communications manager for the Red Cross, said –

‘We don’t like that discrimination,’ she said. ‘Obviously, the gay and lesbian communities don’t like that discrimination. We’ve been working with them to incorporate everybody and make everyone feel welcome.’

The research in the U.K. suggests that a five-year ban increases the risk of HIV-tainted blood entering the nation’s supply by 5 percent. While the British government apparently deems that increase as negligible and worth the risk to its citizens, there is no debating that such a risk is actually present and that to deny that science is placing policy above probity.