A lot of emotions and fierce debate is stirred when talking about the ban on men who sleep with me donating blood. It is a perfectly understandable response, on the surface of it, it appears to be straightforward discrimination. The belief that HIV/AIDS is a gay disease is a myth that should have never been latched onto in the first place. With the possibility of the blood ban being totally lifted I will look at the pros and cons of lifting the ban using the most the up to date statistics.
When looking at whether or not to lift the blood ban what must be at the forefront of any politicians or medical experts mind is the welfare of a patient who will be receiving that blood. At the moment gay men must abstain from anal or oral sex for 12 months. The NHS also states that anyone who has had sex with a commercial sex worker, a person who injects substances or anyone who has been sexually active in countries where HIV/AIDS is prevalent is barred from donating for 12 months.
It is of course unfortunate that gay and bisexual men are being put in the same category as drugs users by the NHS but there a understandable reasons why this is the case. Gay and bisexual are one of the most high risk groups for new diagnoses of HIV. The 2014 report on HIV rates show that in London 1 in 8 men who sleep with men are HIV positive whereas the for the rest of the country the number stands at 1 in 20. Of newly diagnosed cases 16% of those are in men under the age of 24 years of age.
The recent popularity of “chem sex” (people who use Crystal Meth and other substances) in urban areas especially London among the gay community is also believed to have led to an increase the HIV rates among young gay men. Research suggests that people partake in this activity leave themselves open to risk and these sessions can last for days can mean people are then outside the window to receive Post Exposure Prophylaxis drugs used to prevent HIV transmission.
On the other side of the debate people argue that the blood ban is based on discrimination and was devised at a time when we didn’t know any better. That is certainly a fair point considering there was a time when HIV/AIDS was known as GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency).The permanent ban was in place since the 1980’s in the UK but was lifted by Parliament in 2011 and a 12 month deferral period put in place.
As already established HIV rates and new transmissions are disproportionately hight among gay and bisexual men but science and medical knowledge have changed massively since the 1980’s.While any test cannot be 100% all of the time methods of testing for blood borne diseases has become increasingly sophisticated over time. Speaking personally from my last HIV test all it took was pin prick and sixty seconds later I had an answer – this is then followed up by having a full blood screening to confirm the result.
Frankly it seems odd to ban a group of people from donating blood when the NHS is crying for new donors to come forward. In Northern Ireland they were having to take blood from Scotland due to shortages. HIV or other blood borne transmission can take place in anyone that is sexually active so even a 12 month deferral period on MSM’s does seem like discrimination.
A heterosexual male or female can donate blood even if they have sex with multiple people whether they have been safe or not. A gay man is even barred for 12 months even if they have performed oral sex with a condom – I can’t speak for everyone but I’m pretty sure that bars every gay man from donating blood for at least 12 months!
In my view the blood ban is discriminatory but attitudes within the gay community do have to change. We need to take more responsibility as a group and keep practising safe sex, HIV transmissions are too high within community, we need a frank discussion about this and we need to push for compulsory, all inclusive sex education within the schools and higher education establishments.
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References
Why can’t gay men donate blood? (05/08/15 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/why-cant-gay-men-donate-blood-10426364.html)
Gay blood donation: ‘No evidence to support an outright ban’ (05/02/15 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-31131316)
Who Can’t Give Blood (http://www.blood.co.uk/giving-blood/who-cant-give-blood/)
Latest UK HIV Statistics (http://www.nat.org.uk/HIV-in-the-UK/HIV-Statistics/Latest-UK-statistics.aspx)