The European nation scrapped its policy -- introduced in 1980 to prevent the spread of AIDS -- which prohibited homosexual men from donating blood
Two gay men hold a rainbow flag and the French national flag during an event in support of the gay community in Paris.
Paris: France will lift a ban on gay men donating blood, introduced in the 1980s to prevent the spread of AIDS but criticised by rights groups, the health minister said yesterday.
Two gay men hold a rainbow flag and the French national flag during an event in support of the gay community in Paris. Pic for representation/AFP
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“Giving blood is an act of generosity, of civic responsibility, and the donor’s sexual orientation cannot be a condition. While respecting patient safety, today we are lifting a taboo,” Marisol Touraine announced in Paris yesterday.
Touraine said the lifting of the ban, promised by Francois Hollande in his presidential campaign, will happen in stages, starting next year.
Terms and conditions
At first, donation of ‘whole blood’ — the red cells, plasma and platelets — will be open to gay men who have not been sexually active for the preceding 12 months.
For donations of only plasma, the liquid component of blood, donors will be considered if they have not had sex with another man for four months, or were in a monogamous relationship. Experts will then analyse whether the change had brought about any additional risk, after which measures may be relaxed further in 2017, the minister said.
In other countries with similar waiting periods for donors, including Australia, Britain, Japan and Sweden, rights groups criticise the measure as discriminatory, given that no similar condition exists for heterosexual men or women.
US recommendation
US regulators in May recommended lifting a lifetime ban on blood donations by gay men, but also with a 12-month waiting window. On its website, the US Food and Drug Administration says men who have sex with men are “at increased risk for HIV”.
“Men who have had sex with other men represent approximately two percent of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV,” it states.
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