Blood donatn rights and wrongs: Risk vers reward of allowg gay and bisexual men to donate | New Zealand Doctor

Contents:

• OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’
• THE SPOFF: WHY HAS THE 'GAY BLOOD BAN' STILL NOT BEEN LIFTED NEW ZEALAND?
• NEW ZEALAND, BRA EASE L ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY MEN
• BLOOD DONATN BEHAVUR AND ATTUS TOWARDS THE 12-MONTH FERRAL POLICY AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN NEW ZEALAND
• NZ KEEPS GAY BLOOD DONATN LAWS AT 12 MONTHS
• TOO GAY TO DONATE BLOOD? AMBITIOUS STUDY LAUNCHES TO CREATE BLOOD DONATION EQUITY FOR ALL MEN
• BLOOD DONATN BEHAVUR AND ATTUS TOWARDS THE 12‐MONTH FERRAL POLICY AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN NEW ZEALAND
• OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’
• NEW ZEALAND’S ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’ RCED TO THREE MONTHS
• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON'T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY
• BLOOD DONATN RIGHTS AND WRONGS: RISK VERS REWARD OF ALLOWG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE
• NEW ZEALAND RC GAY BLOOD DONATN REFERRAL PERD TO THREE MONTHS
• OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’
• THE SPOFF: WHY HAS THE 'GAY BLOOD BAN' STILL NOT BEEN LIFTED NEW ZEALAND?
• OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

So-lled “gay blood bans” are ntroversial ternatnally but change is on the way. It addrs the view of some gay and bisexual men that their ongog excln om blood donatn is unjt, unscientific and nsistent wh current HIV preventn approach. But still prevents, unnecsarily, many low risk gay and bisexual men and takatāpui (Māori gay and bisexual men) om donatg life-savg blood.

Society portrays donatg blood as a valued civic act imbued wh high moral stat, and many gay and bisexual men want to donate to help others and perform an important duty of cizenship. The policy n fuel accurate stereotyp about gay men beg reckls, and plays to a wir sense of excln om important health and cultural stutns that many gay men already experience. Although 20 percent of all potential blood donors are ferred for var reasons, gay and bisexual men often feel sgled out.

THE SPOFF: WHY HAS THE 'GAY BLOOD BAN' STILL NOT BEEN LIFTED NEW ZEALAND?

They want polici that are as fair as possible and view gay blood bans a ntext of historic alienatn, discrimatn and poorer mental health for Rabow muni.

NEW ZEALAND, BRA EASE L ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY MEN

In Aotearoa, HIV transmissn is ncentrated among gay and bisexual men and takatāpui who, as a group, are approximately 873 tim more likely than a heterosexual person to ntract HIV.

On the other hand, many dividual gay men practice safe sex nsistently, or are steady relatnships, and their chance of havg ntracted HIV the last few days or weeks prr to donatg blood is negligible. Low-risk gay and bisexual men and takatāpui uld potentially donate blood safely and sooner than after three months. If we n intify low-risk gay men, we timate up to 35, 000 more people uld donate life-savg blood, the policy would be more clive and, most importantly, wouldn’t crease risk to the blood supply.

Many gay men are g batns of ndoms, regular ttg, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV antiretroviral treatments to mimise transmissn.

BLOOD DONATN BEHAVUR AND ATTUS TOWARDS THE 12-MONTH FERRAL POLICY AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN NEW ZEALAND

The oute has been enuragg so far: Auckland, diagnos of lolly-acquired recent HIV fectn have rced dramatilly among gay and bisexual men sce 2016. Succsful tn mpaigns also mean many gay and bisexual men have a relatively sophistited awarens of HIV transmissn science, pecially that oral sex rri virtually no risk of HIV.

NZ KEEPS GAY BLOOD DONATN LAWS AT 12 MONTHS

Consequently, they intify a dissonance between what tsted peer-based HIV preventn anisatns are advisg and the ernment’s blood donor policy: Many gay and bisexual men are beg safe and rponsible, but blood servic are markg them as “unsafe”.

TOO GAY TO DONATE BLOOD? AMBITIOUS STUDY LAUNCHES TO CREATE BLOOD DONATION EQUITY FOR ALL MEN

Potentially, this will mean gay and bisexual men exclive long-term partnerships n donate and oral sex is no longer grounds for ferral.

Used wh permissn om Newsroom Out wh the ‘gay blood ban’ 18 December 2020.

BLOOD DONATN BEHAVUR AND ATTUS TOWARDS THE 12‐MONTH FERRAL POLICY AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN NEW ZEALAND

Photo / GettyPrevly published on The SpoffOPINIONScreeng potential donors is necsary – but do effectively banng sexually active gay men still make sense?

Dpe recent news stori such as the cril shortage of A+ blood, thori here ntue to rist prsure to overturn the ban on blood donatns by gay men.

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

Jt last month, Canada lifted s own "gay blood ban", promptg the qutn: is Aotearoa now out of step ternatnally?

To unrstand the directn we are headg , we have to start at the the early 1980s, after an creasg number of heterosexual haemophiliacs me down wh what ed to be known as the "gay-related immunoficiency disease", experts ma the nnectn between blood, homosexualy, and HIV/AIDS. Shortly thereafter, banng gay men om donatg blood beme a global phenomenon. The polici still persist to this day due to the ongog global HIV, rtrictns on gay, bi, and other men-who-have-sex-wh-men (MSM) would not exist until the velopment of the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) 1998.

Although 's now known as a "ferral' policy", NZBS' stand-down perd of three months for men who have any sex wh other men is effectively a "ban" for most gay men are unrstandably upset and many view this policy discrimatory. As a policy, dangeroly perpetuat outdated myths around the dangers of gay sex. Dpe our low populatn prevalence, there is an HIV epimic ncentrated among gay men is a cril shortage of A+ blood New Zealand at the moment.

NEW ZEALAND’S ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’ RCED TO THREE MONTHS

Sglg out gay sex as dangero is fely bad taste nsirg the history of opprsn towards the muny and the now availabily of effective HIV preventn strategi.

NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON'T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY

But our untry, the NZBS is jtifiably risk-adverse bee gay men pose a relatively higher risk of passg undiagnosed HIV onto blood n see the nundm rearchers face when tryg to discs the plexi of blood donatn. Decentralisg the issue of sex between men remov the equaly at the heart of the gay blood ban. An dividualised approach also rc the social harm that the current policy perpetuat through s associatn of gay men wh dangero sex.

Remember, gay sex self don't rry risks of HIV – what matters is how you have sex and who you have sex dividualised approach also allows for low-risk MSM (e. "As a gay man myself, I feel that llg the gay blood ban "discrimatn" wrongly ascrib malic tent, pecially when the policy aims to provi Hippocratic oversight managg real threats to real vulnerable patients.

He is pletg his doctoral rearch the School of Populatn Health at the Universy of Auckland, focg on blood donatn among gay and bisexual men Aotearoa wh the SPOTS project. LONDON (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - New Zealand and Bra beme on Monday the latt untri to ease l on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men, as supply ncerns ed by COVID-19 crease scty of AIDS panmic-era rtrictns that LGBT+ rights advot say are Zealand’s ernment cut the celibacy perd for gay and bisexual men to give blood om a year to three months, regardls of whether or not they had ed ndoms, the New Zealand Blood Service said on s webse on Bra, which had a three-month ferral perd, a behavur-based policy will be ed om mid-2021, meang anyone - gay or straight - who has had anal sex wh multiple partners or a new partner will not be able to donate change means men long-term gay monogamo relatnships will be eligible to donate blood whout any wag perd om "summer 2021", a statement on a ernment webse said on Monday.

BLOOD DONATN RIGHTS AND WRONGS: RISK VERS REWARD OF ALLOWG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE

Rtrictns on gay men donatg blood, imposed by many untri at the height of the HIV/AIDS panmic the 1980s, have faced renewed scty this year amid ncerns about matag suppli of blood durg the ronavis crisis.

NEW ZEALAND RC GAY BLOOD DONATN REFERRAL PERD TO THREE MONTHS

Lockdowns have ma harr for potential donors to accs donatn Uned Stat rced s wag perd for gay and bi men om a year to three months April. 31 mpaigners cricised both untri, however, sayg the polici ntued to discrimate agast gay and bi activists levelled siar cricism agast the new Brish policy bee of s foc on anal sex, which is most monly associated wh gay and bisexual sex.

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

“We still are not at a pot where the sex gay men have and the sex straight people have is equal, ” said Ash Kotak, a playwright who is mpaigng for a London AIDS memorial.

THE SPOFF: WHY HAS THE 'GAY BLOOD BAN' STILL NOT BEEN LIFTED NEW ZEALAND?

“The policy cisn is guid by homophobia and fear.

“Anal sex as an act, irrpective of whether you’re gay or straight, is associated wh a greater risk of transmissn of blood-borne vis like HIV, ” Brady, who sat on an advisory mtee that remend the new policy, told the Thomson Rters 2001, Italy has had a risk-based policy that do not nsir the type of sex, which has not led to the blood supply beg creasgly promised by HIV fectns, rearchers at Italy’s Natnal Instute of Health said a 2013 study. Blood donatn behavur and attus towards the 12-month ferral policy among gay and bisexual men New Zealand. Gay and bisexual men (GBM) are ferred om donatg blood many untri.

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

4%) and homophobic (68. Attus and willgns to donate blood among gay and bisexual men Atralia. A mixed methods vtigatn of the relatnship between blood donor policy, tert donatn, and willgns to donate among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men Ontar, Canada.