Health Ministry changes blood donation guidelines to not exclude gay men

The Ministry of Health is changing its guidelines to hospitals for blood donation so as not to automatically exclude men who have sex with men from donating blood. The gender or sexual orientation of the person will no longer play a role in their eligibility for being a blood donor.

Up until now, although all donors' blood was tested for HIV, men were automatically excluded from donating blood if they had had sex with another man in the last six months. The ministry had previously justified the measure by saying that sex between men was considered to carry a greater risk of HIV infection.

The new recommendation is that people who have had protected or unprotected anal intercourse with a new sexual partner in the last four months, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, won't be allowed to donate. According to a healthy ministry spokesperson, this is based on internationally accepted recommendations issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).