Health Canada on Thursday lifted restrictions on gay men donating blood, a move Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said was “good news for all Canadians” but had taken too long.
Trudeau said at a news conference the ban should have ended 10-15 years ago, but research proving it would not affect the safety of the blood supply had not been done by previous governments.
Trudeau said his government spent $5 million (U.S. $3.9 million) on research into the safety aspects of changing the blood donation rules and multiple scientific reports showed “our blood supply will continue to be safe.”
Health Canada approved the request by Canadian Blood Services to end the policy that restricts homosexuals from donating blood for three months after engaging in gay sex. The blood service asked Health Canada to allow it to scrap questions about gender or sexuality, and instead base screening on higher-risk sexual behavior such as anal sex.
Starting no later than Sept. 30, potential donors will be asked if they have had new or multiple sexual partners in the last previous months, no matter their gender or sexual orientation. Those who say yes will be asked if they have engaged in higher-risk sex. If they have, they will need to wait three months after such activity before donating blood.
The agency says asking about sexual behavior rather than sexual orientation will allow it to more reliably assess the risk of infections such as HIV.
The policy began in 1992 as an outright ban on gay men donating blood following a tainted blood scandal. Several changes were later made to the blood donation regime until deferral periods for donations by gay men were lowered from a lifetime ban to three months in 2019.
The donation ban was initially for life, but that policy was first eased in 2013, when men who had sex with men were allowed to donate after being abstinent for five years. That was later eased to the current three month period.
Many countries instituted similar donation bans during the Aids epidemic of the 1980s. Experts have found that the bans had little effect, since blood is now systematically screened in advance for viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C.
The UK lifted its own three month ban on blood donations from gay men last year. France, Greece, Israel, Hungary, Denmark and Brazil have also recently lifted restrictions.
Facing a blood shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. reduced its celibacy requirement for gay men from one year to three months in October 2020.
The BBC contributed to this story.
