Canadian Blood Services eases restrictions for some gay men in Alta., Ont.
CTV
Canadian Blood Services has expanded blood donation eligibility for some gay men and LBGTQ2S+ folks at its donor centres in Calgary and London, Ont.
At these donor centres, gay, bisexual and certain trans folks who have sex with men are now eligible to donate plasma, provided they have not had a new sexual partner or their partner has not had sex with another partner in the last three months.
“While this marks an important step in our journey toward establishing more equitable blood donation policies and screening processes, we recognize these new criteria may pose barriers to donation for some individuals,” Canadian Blood Services wrote in an update Tuesday.
“Our goal remains to remove the current waiting period for men who have sex with men and use sexual behaviour-based screening for all donors instead.”
For years, advocates have called for the blood ban – which began in 1992 following the tainted blood scandal that saw thousands of Canadians infected with HIV after receiving donor blood – to be replaced with a gender-neutral screening process that is based on sexual behaviour and not orientation.
