He said his government invested $5 million to research the safety aspects of changing blood donation rules and multiple scientific reports had proven "our blood supply will continue to be safe." Trudeau said Thursday that the policy should have ended at least a decade ago. The Liberals promised in both the 20 elections to eliminate it entirely. The deferral period dropped to one year in 2016 and then three months in 2019. The Liberals promised to end the ban on men who have sex with men donating blood during the 2015 election campaign that brought the Trudeau government to power. That was when thousands of Canadians were exposed to HIV and hepatitis after receiving contaminated blood products. Long overdue!"Ī lifetime ban had been put into place in 1992 as part of the fallout from the tainted blood scandal in the 1980s. "We definitely welcome today’s decision by Health Canada to authorize Canadian Blood Services to end their discriminatory blood and plasma donation ban targeting Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, and queer men, trans women, and other men who have sex with men. "Finally!" Egale Canada wrote on Twitter. It also asks potential donors if they have been tattooed or engaged in intravenous drug use, as a way to help prevent diseases, including HIV, being transmitted through a transfusion. The federal blood agency said focusing on sexual behaviour, not orientation, will allow it to more reliably assess the risk of infections, such as HIV, that can be transmitted through transfusions. If they have, they would need to wait three months since that activity before donating blood. If yes, they would then be asked whether they have had anal sex with any of those partners. "The current approach was discriminatory and wrong, and this is a significant milestone in moving forward on both the safety of our blood supply but also non-discriminatory practices."Ĭanadian Blood Services had asked Health Canada to allow it to scrap questions about gender or sexuality when screening potential donors and ask about higher-risk sexual behaviour instead.īy the end of September, potential donors will be asked if they have had new or multiple sexual partners in the last three months, no matter their gender or sexual orientation.
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"It’s been a long time coming," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday in Ottawa. In a Postmedia News piece, Lauren Strapagiel called the move a step forward but said gay men pushing to be allowed to donate blood were still severely restricted.OTTAWA - Health Canada has approved an end to policy that restricts men who have sex with men from donating blood products for three months, a change welcomed by LGBTQ advocates but criticized - including by the prime minister, who promised years ago to end it - as long overdue. “It’s the right thing to do and we are committed to regular review of this policy as additional data emerge and new technologies are implemented.” “We recognize that many people will feel that this change does not go far enough, but given the history of the blood system in Canada, we see this as a first and prudent step forward on this policy,” Devine, vice-president of medical, scientific and research affairs at Canadian Blood Services, told CP.
In Britain and Australia, gay men are eligible if they haven't had sex in a year, while in South Africa it's six months. The program was later expanded to cover hep-C victims infected before and after those dates.Īccording to CP, several other countries allow gay men to donate blood, some applying a shorter deferral period than the five-year rule Canada is adopting.
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The federal government paid out more than a billion dollars in compensation, but initially only to those who were infected between 19. Thousands of people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from improperly screened blood and blood products.Ī royal commission under retired judge Horace Krever recommended in 1997 the creation of Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec. The ban was imposed in the wake of the tainted-blood scandal of the 1980s and '90s, when the Canadian Red Cross ran the country's blood system. Dana Devine told The Canadian Press that while some will feel the deferral period is still too long, it would be reviewed over time. Gay men will once again be allowed to donate blood in Canada, as long as they've been celibate for at least five years.Ĭanadian Blood Services made the announcement Wednesday in a news release, saying it has received approval from Health Canada to reduce the lifetime ban - or as they call it the MSM (men who've had sex with men) deferral period - to five years.Īgency executive Dr.