Australias policies on blood donation within the GBT
community are out of step with international norms, writes Dr
Sharon Dane and Rodney Croome.
The lifting of restrictions on people with new tattoos giving
blood highlights another contentious restriction, the ban on blood
donation by gay men, and bisexual men and trans women who have sex
with men (GBT donors).
Debate about gay blood donation is likely to grow in coming
months because Australias Lifeblood Service has proposed that GBT
donors be allowed to give plasma but not whole blood. We are
concerned this will replace an old form of discrimination with a
new one.
We feel there is a better path forward with both the science and
the international experience showing it is possible to have a safe
blood supply and treat all donors equally regardless of sexuality
or gender.
The Plasma Pathway
Last year Lifeblood asked the Australian Government to amend the
blanket ban on gay blood donation so men who have sex with men can
give plasma but not whole blood. The so-called plasma pathway has
since been approved by the governments blood regulator, the
Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Now, it will go to state and federal health ministers and the
private blood trading company, CSL Behring, for their approval.
But there are significant problems with only allowing GBT people
to donate plasma and not whole blood.
While it may increase the supply of plasma it entrenches
discrimination and misses an opportunity to tap into a new
source of safe whole blood that will help save lives.
The local and national situation
Currently in Australia, gay men, and bisexual men and trans
women who have sex with men, are barred from blood donation unless
they are sexually abstinent for three months prior to
donation. This includes those in long-term, monogamous
relationships.
That policy dates from the 1980s when a blanket blood donation
ban was imposed on men who have sex with men to stop the spread of
HIV through blood transfusion.
A lot has changed since then. Within just the last two
years gay male blood donation has been allowed in
the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece,
Israel and most recently the US.
Instead of barring all gay men, and some bi and trans people,
these countries assess all donors for their individual risk, gay
and straight, cis and trans.
In the UK, Canada and the US all donors are asked if they have
had anal sex with a new partner, or multiple partners, in the
previous three months and are deferred if they say yes. In
other words, instead of turning away all gay men, and some bi
and trans folk, and allowing all heterosexuals through, like the
current Australian policy, individual risk assessment screens out
everyone who may be at risk.
Lifeblood pushes back
The Australian Lifeblood Service has taken...