The TGA said that decision was based on expert advice that relaxing the rules "would be unlikely to provide a significant increase in blood supply". Only one in 30 Australians currently give blood and the Red Cross Blood Service is keen to boost its pool of potential donors.ĭuring this year's savage cold and flu season, illness among regular donors has forced the service to call out for extra donors.Īustralia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has previously knocked back a move by the Red Cross to cut the deferral period to six months, following a 2012 review of the rule. ( ABC News: George Davis) Deferral period 'not discriminatory' Professor O'Donnell said other countries were ahead of Australia in their responses to blood donations from men who have sex with men. "We want a fair and equitable society," Mr Park said. The Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby's Dale Park said the restrictions were introduced at a time of "fear and prejudice" around homosexuality and the deferral period should be set to three months or less. In countries with no deferral period, gay and bisexual men are assessed on their individual risk - such as multiple sexual partners - rather than sexual orientation.ĭenmark has announced it is scrapping the deferral period for gay men in monogamous relationships and other gay and bisexual men can donate after four months without sex. "Three months is now where many of the blood banks are landing," he said.Ĭountries including Italy, Spain, Portugal and South Africa have gone further - scrapping the mandatory deferral period. Italy, Spain, Portugal and South Africa: no deferral."The current tests, the nucleic acid tests which detect the virus itself, or the nucleic acids of the virus, they are able to detect the presence of the virus within several days."Īustralia was a world leader when it introduced the 12-month waiting period, but has now "fallen behind" according to Professor O'Donnell. "The tests back in the early days detected antibodies which is what the human immune system develops in response to HIV infection," he said. Today, detection takes fewer than 10 days, according to John Kaldor, who is a professor at the Kirby Institute medical research centre in Sydney. When a blood screening test for HIV first became available in 1985, it could pick up antibodies about 50 days after infection. ( ABC News: James Hancock)īlood screening and treatment for HIV and AIDS has undergone a revolution since the dark days of the crisis. ÂI was rejected as a donor because NYBC continues to use the outdated screening guidelines of a waiting period of one year instead of three months for gay and bisexual men like me.âĪccording to NBC News, blood donation centre across the US are still applying the old rules â with many blaming outdated computer systems and paperwork.If taken regularly, PrEP is 99 per cent effective in preventing HIV transmission. In a letter to the head of the New York Blood Center, Christopher Hillyer, the politician wrote: âI attempted to donate blood at the NYBC facility at 200 Park Avenue because I qualify under the new guidelines. Hoylman, who is gay, revealed he had personally attempted to register as a donor, but was rejected because the state continues to use the outdated screening guidelines. However  as New York state senator Brad Hoylman found out to his detriment this month, the change in rules is not yet being consistently enacted, with the out lawmaker turned away from donating at New York Blood Center despite meeting the requirements to do so. New York senator not allowed to donate despite easing of gay blood ban. In line with international standards, the new FDA rules state that queer men should be permitted to give blood if they have not had sex in the last three months. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in February that it would âimmediatelyâ relax rules first imposed during the AIDS crisis, which banned men who have sex with men from giving blood unless they abstain from sex for a year. However, the call comes just one week after it was revealed that even gay and bisexual men who are eligible to donate blood are still being turned away from donating in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for people to donate blood – but even eligible gay and bisexual men are still being prevented from doing so (Photo: Ron Adar / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
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