7 November 2011: Equality – it’s in the blood. Ban on gay and bi men giving blood is lifted
The ban on gay and bi men giving blood was introduced the middle of the HIV and AIDS crisis that ravaged the community in the 1980s.
It was introduced in 1985 and essentially banned any man who had had sex with a man from giving blood for their entire lives.
Variations of this ban are in place in many – but not all – countries across the world. In the earliest years of the AIDS epidemic, reliable testing for HIV had yet to be created. However, since then, advances in the understanding and treatment of HIV mean that the ban doesn’t reflect current science, but is instead based on a discriminatory and arbitrary rule.
The lifetime ban was reduced to a one-year deferral period in 2011. Stonewall, along with many others – including the sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust – supported the change.
In 2016 Northern Ireland also removed the ban and opted for the same one-year deferral period.
Campaigners, including Freedom to Donate, continued to press for change and in 2017, the Government announced it would further reduce the deferral period from 12 months to three months.
This was an important step for gay and bi men and it was welcomed by Stonewall, National AIDS Trust, Terrence Higgins Trust, Freedom to Donate, and others.
But, while a shortened deferral period is an important move, the reality is that most gay and bi men will still be excluded from donating blood.
Stonewall wants to see a system that allows the most possible people to donate safely.
We know that statistically, men who have sex with men face higher rates of blood-borne infections – an inequality that should be tackled in and of itself – and we have always been clear that the safety of the blood supply is paramount.
However it’s untrue to say that every gay and bi man is a high-risk donor.
Stonewall continues to call for a system based on individualised risk assessment of blood donors, rather than excluding an entire group.
Stonewall is also calling for NHS England to make PrEP, a drug which specifically prevents HIV transmission, routinely available.
Just a year before the Government reduced the deferral period from 12 months to three months, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no legal barrier to the NHS commissioning PrEP. The legal challenge, brought by the National AIDS Trust, came about because the NHS had suddenly stopped its work on PrEP. This was despite research showing that the drug dramatically reduces the risk of HIV transmission.
While the public may know about the blood ban and the outdated justification for it, they will be less aware of PrEP and how initiatives like this are already reducing HIV transmission. This fact is troubling.
Stonewall is committed to working with the Government, NHS Blood and Transplant Service and other charities to create a fair, individualised system that is based in science, and not in historic fears.