The Spoff: Why has the 'gay blood ban' still not been lifted New Zealand? - NZ Herald

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

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.

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

Although 20 percent of all potential blood donors are ferred for var reasons, gay and bisexual men often feel sgled out. 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.

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

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.

NZ KEEPS GAY BLOOD DONATN LAWS AT 12 MONTHS

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.

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.

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

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

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

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. 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.

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

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. 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. 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.

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

Decentralisg the issue of sex between men remov the equaly at the heart of the gay blood ban.

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

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.

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

"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.

NEW ZEALAND RC GAY BLOOD DONATN REFERRAL PERD TO THREE MONTHS

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. 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.

“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 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.

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

Gay and bisexual men (GBM) are ferred om donatg blood many untri. 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.

S., the Red Cross, along wh One Blood, Valant and partner LGBTQ+ muny health centers, are participatg a pilot study fund by the FDA select ci that uld potentially lead to chang for blood donor eligibily creria for gay and bisexual men.

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

Aotearoa New Zealand’s largt and most amb study of s kd lnch today and aims to make blood donatn fairer for gay, bisexual, takatāpui and other men who have sex wh men (MSM). You n also take part if you are a trans woman or non-bary person who has sex wh MSM, or you intify as a gay, bisexual, queer or pansexual man but have never had sex wh a man. AbstractBackground and ObjectivGay and bisexual men (GBM) are ferred om donatg blood many untri.

Keywords: attus, blood donatn, blood safety, ferral policy, donors, men who have sex wh menHighlightsBlood donatn behavur, pliance, tert and attus among gay and bisexual men New Zealand were siar to existg studi other populatns. Siarly, most of an Atralian sample of MSM regard that untry's 12‐month ferral policy to be ‘unfair’, ‘homophobic’ and ‘too strict’ given that most MSM adopted effective HIV preventn strategi [9]. Participants were reced between December 2018 and Febary 2019 through social media, gay mobile applitns, muny anizatns and person at a muny fair day Auckland.

To be eligible, participants had to be at least 16 years old, have had sex wh another man the last 6 months or intify as gay, bisexual or non‐heterosexual. However, when discsg the impact on the muny, we refer to gay, bisexual and other MSM Gay and bisexual men (GBM).

OUT WH THE ‘GAY BLOOD BAN’

5)IntyGay107 (77. 4%) and ‘homophobic’ (68. It is a homophobic le.

I support the cisn that gay and bisexual men have to wa 12 months before donatg blood.

Although the Flux NZ study of higher risk MSM sampl (half of our sample reported recreatnal dg e and a tenth exchanged money for sex), their engagement ntemporary HIV preventn and gay social practic means they are of tert to blood donatn policymakers. Blood donatn behavur and attus towards the 12‐month ferral policy among gay and bisexual men New Zealand.