ADVOCATES SAY 'PLASMA PATHWAY' NOT SOLUTION TO GAY BLOOD BAN
"Allowing us to only give plasma but not whole blood is like offering us civil unions instead of marriage equality."
- Rodney Croome
The Let Us Give campaign says the proposal to allow gay men to give plasma is not a solution to either the shortage of whole blood or discrimination.
The campaign group says this is why similar initiatives were abandoned in other countries like Canada and Israel.
Let Us Give spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said,
"Allowing gay men to give plasma is welcome, but it is not the solution to either the need for more whole blood, or the unnecessary discrimination inherent in the ban on gay blood donation."
"Other countries like Israel and Canada have tried the plasma pathway and quickly dropped it in favour of assessing the individual risk of all donors, which is what we have consistently called for in Australia"
"Countries that have dropped their gay blood bans and adopted individual risk assessment, like the UK, France, Canada, Germany and Israel, have benefitted from having a new source of safe blood, and Australia will too."
"Allowing us to only give plasma but not whole blood is like offering us civil unions instead of marriage equality."
Let Us Give researcher, Dr Sharon Dane, said,
"It's misleading for Lifeblood to say Australia is the first country to adopt the plasma pathway for men who have sex with men because a plasma policy was trialled in Canada and Israel, with both countries choosing to move to whole blood donation.”
"Israel piloted plasma donation in 2018 but moved to whole blood donation for people classified as men who have sex with men by 2021, while Canada trialled plasma only in 2021 but went to include whole blood soon after in 2022."
"Limiting donations to just plasma was abandoned in those countries for a host of reasons, one of which is the discrimination inherent in 'the plasma pathway'.
“Also, people becoming eligible will mainly be novice donors facing a lengthier donation process when donating plasma.”
“While donating plasma is undeniably important, restricting donations to just plasma for people classified as men who have sex with men is not a solution to the need for blood products."
Mr Croome and Dr Dane both encouraged plasma donations by gay men, and bisexual men and trans women who have sex with men, if and when it is approved.
But they said the Let Us Give campaign will continue to advocate for individual risk assessment in whole blood donation.
News report here: https://www.theage.com.au/healthcare/world-first-move-to-lift-gay-bisexual-ban-on-blood-plasma-donation-20230317-p5ct52.html
For a copy of this statement on the web, click here
For more information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668 or Dr Sharon Dane on 0403 895 268.
