Ban lifted: Gay and bisexual men among over 600,000 Australians newly eligible to donate blood
Rules that have effectively banned all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma will be lifted, in a world-first move that would expand Australia's donor pool and redress a major source of stigma for LGBTQ people.
From July 14, Lifeblood will scrap its sexual activity rule that barred gay and bisexual men and transgender women from donating plasma if they had sex with men in the previous three months.
The rule – which also bans sex workers and women who have sex with bisexual men – was designed to prohibit people at higher risk of exposure to HIV from donating.
But the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved its removal based on research, modelling and risk assessments conducted by Lifeblood that showed there would be no change to the current safety profile of Australia's blood supply, due to an additional safety measure, known as pathogen deactivation, in processing plasma.
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