Advocates are hoping that Canada’s controversial policies surrounding blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM) may change in the near future with the new Liberal majority government.
Before 2013, the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) policy was that any man who had ever had sex with another man since 1977 (the year that Health Canada identifies as being the year when rapid spread of HIV began in North America) was not allowed to donate blood. This meant that a man who had sex with a man one time, 36 years ago, and had since abstained from sex entirely, was still not able to donate blood.
As of 2013, the blood ban has been altered so that MSM who have been celibate for five years are now able to donate blood. While this five-year deferral period is substantially smaller than the 36 years of indefinite deferral that it replaced, advocates still argue that this new five-year waiting period is excessive.
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MSM prevented from donating blood/ huffingtonpost
The five year ban means that two men in a committed relationship with each other can never donate blood (even if they never have any other partners besides each other), unless they abstain from sex for five years. Despite engaging in sexual activity that would be considered safe for a heterosexual couple, a committed same-sex couple would be unable to donate blood because of the genders of the partners.
Critics argue that the ban (referring to both the former permanent one and the new five-year one) is discriminatory and flawed. Common arguments are that it reinforces (or even produces) negative stigma surrounding MSM, that it is preventing potentially healthy donors from donating blood (especially in a time when there is a shortage of blood donations), and that it is not entirely logically or scientifically valid.
“Some members of the LGBT community also take issue with appeals for blood… when men in loving and long-term relationships with other men are barred from donating,” reports Canada.com. “A straight woman with a risky sexual history could be more likely to carry a blood-borne pathogen, they argue.”
One of the most frequent criticisms of the blood ban is that it focuses on gender and sexual identity, and places these factors over other sexual behaviours that are arguably more likely to indicate HIV risk.
André Picard of The Globe and Mail argues that the primary focus of donor screening should be on sexual practices (such as number and frequency of partners), rather than sexual orientation.
While the five-year rule is currently CBS’s standard, there is currently potential for the restrictions on blood donation for MSM to change in 2016. CBS has announced on their website that they currently want to change the policy, and intend to seek permission from Health Canada to reduce the wait time to one year.
“Today, we believe there is sufficient evidence to support a one-year deferral period,” reports CBS.
“Which is why in early 2016 we will submit a proposal to our federal regulator Health Canada to reduce the MSM deferral period from five years to one year. These incremental changes are important steps towards being as minimally restrictive as possible while also maintaining the safety of the blood supply.”
Of course, the one-year wait time would still prevent committed long-term couples from donating blood unless they remain celibate for a year. However, with CBS suggesting that they are taking a gradual approach with incremental steps towards reducing restrictions, there is potential for increasingly more significant changes to come. While this change is coming at a pace that the National Post describes as “glacially slow,” it is still happening.
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Anti-blood ban art/ proudqueerseattle.com
While CBS is working internally to propose a reduced wait time to Health Canada, there are also external factors working to influence restrictions on blood donation. CBC reports that the Liberal Party of Canada claimed during the election that they would work on reducing the wait time. Now that the Liberals have a majority government, there is a strong possibility that they will begin to work towards changing blood donation restrictions.
The Liberal Party’s website outlines a plan to end the waiting period. This Liberal policy has also received public support, as it has a rating of 4.71/5 in terms of how important the public sees it, with 28,638 people voting on its perceived importance.
“Currently, [the CBS and Héma-Québec] ban men who have been sexually active with men at any point in the previous five years from donating blood, even if it has been entirely safe and monogamous,” the petition states. “This policy ignores scientific evidence and must end. A Liberal government will work with Health Canada, CBS, and HM-QC to end this stigmatizing donor-screening policy and adopt one that is non-discriminatory and based on science.”
With the Liberal government aiming to work together with other organizations to develop a new screening policy, the question remains of what this policy would look like. Other countries, including Spain and Italy, already have less discriminatory policies in place.
The National Post reports that, in these countries, donors are screened based on specific ‘risk’ behaviours, and not on their gender or sexuality. In Italy, each donor has an individual screening in which a specially trained doctor determines the risk level of that person’s sex life.
While these systems have been effective in their respective countries, there is concern that they may be too expensive or may require too many resources for them to be practical in Canada. If the Liberal party wants to develop a more inclusive system of screening and limiting blood donors, there is possibility for them to take inspiration from these European systems, but they may also likely have to work from the ground up to construct a new system that works for Canada.
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Critics concerned that “gay blood” is stigmatized/ albanydailystar.com
For now, the situation for MSM who want to donate blood constitutes a five-year celibacy period, which CBS is working to change to one year. However, with political and popular influences working to revise the system, and CBS claiming to have a long-term incremental goal in mind, Canada’s blood donation policy may become less discriminatory in the future.
For anyone who can donate blood, CBS has a clinic in downtown St. Catharines at 395/397 Ontario Street, and can be contacted at 1-888-2-DONATE. More information about blood donation in Canada can also be found at blood.ca. CBS will also be in the Ian Beddis Gym at Brock on Monday, March 21.
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