Decision to lift gay blood ban applauded but new rules not best practice
"Australian lives will be saved by of this overdue and important decision." - Rodney Croome
But the group has warned that the new rules may confuse some donors and are not consistent with best practice overseas.
The decision, which comes after years of advocacy by Let Us Give and other groups, will mean there is more safe whole blood available for those Australians in need.
Let Us Give spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said,
“We thank the TGA and Lifeblood for removing a ban that limited the supply of safe whole blood and stigmatised gay men, and bisexual men and trans women who have sex with men, as a threat to public health.”
“The overseas experience shows that asking all donors the same gender-neutral questions is win/win because it does not increase disease risk, opens up a vital new source of safe blood and makes the blood supply less discriminatory.”
“I take my hat off to all those LGBTIQA+ people and our allies who have worked so hard for decades to remove the discriminatory gay blood ban and achieve a gender-neutral blood donation policy.”
"Australian lives will be saved by of this overdue and important decision."
Mr Croome said the new rule for blood donation agreed to by the TGA, which will stipulate sexual monogamy for six months or no anal sex for three months, will be confusing for donors and is not global best-practice.
“In Canada, the UK, and the US the new policy is that you can donate if you have not had anal sex with new or multiple partners in the last three months.”
“This is simple, straight forward and should be adopted in Australia as well.”
“We will continue to advocate for best-practice blood donation rules in Australia."
Let Us Give researcher, Dr Sharon Dane, said
“The TGA’s decision is welcome news."
“It appears Lifeblood and the TGA are taking a more conservative approach to whole blood donation, relative to other countries like the UK, Canada and the US.”
“Those countries only require three months of a monogamous relationship if engaging in anal sex, instead of the six months proposed by Lifeblood.”
“Nonetheless, this is a big step forward and we hope that after a short period of assessment, Australia’s whole blood donor policy will change to be in keeping with best-practice nations.”
Mr Croome and Dr Dane also welcomed Lifeblood's announcement that it will begin collecting blood plasma from gay men, and bisexual men and trans women who have sex with men, in July.
The work of Dr Dane, including her report on the clinical research showing the safety and benefits of gender-neutral whole blood donation, had a significant impact on achieving gender-neutral donation in Australia. The report can be found here: https://www.letusgive.com.au/research
An email sent from Lifeblood to gay blood donation stakeholders today, is included below. It explains the new 3/6 donor rule.
For a copy of this statement on the web, click Chere
For more information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668 or Dr Sharon Dane on 0403 895 268.
Today I’m pleased to share that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved our submission to remove gender-based sexual activity rules.
Once implemented, gender-neutral assessments will bring an end to men being asked if they’ve had sex with another man.
Instead, all donors will be asked the same questions about their sexual activity, regardless of gender, and most people in a sexual relationship of 6 months or more with a single partner will be eligible to donate blood. In addition, most people with new or multiple partners will also be able to donate blood if they have not had anal sex in the last 3 months.
Unlike most countries with gender-neutral assessments, nearly everyone who is unable to donate blood under the updated gender-neutral rules will still be able to donate plasma without a wait time.
Now that our submission has been approved, there are many steps that we need to take to implement the change, including working with state and territory governments to change the donor questionnaire.
We hope to be able to implement gender-neutral assessments next year, and we will be in touch again closer to such time, to arrange further briefing sessions.
Until then, we’re thrilled to be able to welcome many more new faces in our donor centres from 14 July.
Cath Stone (she/her)
Acting Chief Executive Officer
