The U.S. is ending its 30-year-old complete ban on blood donations from men who have had sex with men and Canada is likely to follow suit next year. But some restrictions will still apply.
Before testing for HIV became available in the mid-1980s, thousands of Canadians were infected through tainted blood products, according to Canadian Blood Services, the main agency that manages blood donations in Canada. Authorities decided in 1977 to exclude from donating blood all men who had had sex with another man even once.
Five-year ban may become a one-year ban
In 2013, that was changed so that men could donate blood if they had not had sex with another man in the previous five years. Now the U.S. has opted for a one-year ban, and Canadian blood service managers will ask the government department, Health Canada, to approve the same in 2016.
Gay rights activists have lobbied hard for such changes, saying the restriction has discriminated against gay men. Canadian Blood Services have set up a working group to examine the issue which includes patient advocacy groups as well as the LGBTQ community.
New tests are much faster
“Men who have sex with men account for the largest proportion of new HIV infections reported in Canada,” says Canadian Blood Services on its website. It goes on to say that new testing for HIV has dramatically reduced the length of time HIV can go undetected, but there is still a nine-day period after infection when it cannot be detected.
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