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Canadian Blood Services Asks Health Canada to End Ban on Gay Blood Donations

Wednesday, 15 December 2021 13:40

By Linda Morgan

Canadian Blood Services has submitted a request to Health Canada, recommending no longer asking men if they've had sex with other men.

Canadian Blood Services has made a submission to Health Canada, recommending an end to the ban on sexually active gay men donating blood in Canada. 

On its website, the organization says instead, it wants to ask all donors, regardless of sexual orientation, if they have engaged in higher-risk sexual activities. 

"We aim to be an organization that is inclusive and welcoming to all potential donors with minimal restrictions. Our proposed criteria would ask all donors about anal sex in the context of new or multiple recent partners. This would allow us to precisely and reliably identify those who may have a transfusion-transmissible infection, regardless of gender or sexual orientation."

Currently, gay and bisexual men are only allowed to donate blood in Canada if they have been abstinent for three months. 

As well, women wishing to donate are asked if they've had sex in the last three months with a man who had sex with another man during the last 12 months. 

If the blood services' proposal passes, all potential donors will be asked if they have had new or multiple partners instead. 

If they answer "yes", they will then be asked if they have had anal intercourse, which carries a higher risk of transmitting HIV. 

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