Rules that prevented sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, as well as trans women, from donating blood in Australia have been changed in what has been described as a “significant milestone”.

Previous rules banned any man or trans woman who had sex with a man in the previous three months from donating blood or plasma. The rules also applied to sex workers or women who had sex with bisexual men.

These groups were only able to donate plasma (not whole blood) if they had completely abstained from sex in the previous three months, according to rules that were relaxed in 2021.

As announced on June 18 by Lifeblood, Australia’s national blood donation service, such rules will be changed on July 14. The changes will “make blood and plasma donation more inclusive and accessible”, expanding the donation pool by 625,000 people.

Under the new rules, most people in monogamous sexual relationships of six months or more will be eligible for blood donations, regardless of gender and sexuality. Lifeblood will also no longer require people to abstain from sex in the previous three months.

People will instead be asked if they had anal sex with new or multiple partners and if the answer is yes, they will need to wait three months to donate blood, but will still be able to donate plasma. The only group who will still be unable to donate plasma are people living with HIV or who have an HIV positive partner.

 

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Un post condiviso da Australian Red Cross Lifeblood (@lifebloodau)

Lifeblood’s Chief Medical Officer, Jo Pink, described the changes as a “significant milestone” in a statement released to announce the changes. “Blood safety is and always will be our top priority, but we know the current donation rules have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community… we know that they’ve contributed to the stigma faced by (them),” she said.

However, researchers have pointed out that the new rules introduced in Australia don’t follow global best practice. “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,” Let Us Give researcher Sharon Dane said.

“Those countries only require three months of a monogamous relationship if engaging in anal sex, instead of the six months proposed by Lifeblood.”

In Ireland, sexuality-based restrictions on blood donations were completely lifted in 2022, with the same guidelines now in place for straight and LGBTQ+ people.

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