From 2016, homosexuals and bisexuals will be able to donate blood. A man who has sex with a man will need to stay sober for one year to be eligible.
32 years since the donation of blood was forbidden to homosexuals. From spring 2016, this will no longer be the case. The Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, announced in the columns of the World that it intends to lift the permanent ban. A much-awaited lifting of the associative milieu. In the case of plasma donation, the requirements will be the same as for a heterosexual person: to be in a stable relationship for four months or to remain abstinent for the same duration.
But for a man who has sex with men (MSM) to be eligible for total donation, abstinence will need to last for one year. The “silent window” during which HIV remains undetectable in the blood, however, is only 12 days. Why such strict criteria? Why actor deciphers the problem in four questions.
Why impose a year of abstinence?
“Initially, blood donation will be open to homosexuals who have not had sexual relations with another man for twelve months”, declares Marisol Touraine. France follows the example of other countries, such as the United Kingdom or Japan. A year of abstinence is a long time, retort many associations campaigning for the rights of sexual minorities. But this is in no way a form of homophobia: the pre-donation questionnaire actually assesses the risk of a contaminated donation. And this period of adjournment also applies to cohabiting partners of injecting drug users.
“We do not have a statistical projection on the level of residual risk of transmission of HIV by donating blood with criteria below one year of postponement after the last sexual intercourse between men, explains to Why actor Coline Mey, in charge of new health strategies at the AIDES association. This does not mean that there cannot be other evolutions. ”
Moreover, the Minister of Health has called for the launch of studies that will allow the risk to be reassessed. In the future, the position of the French state could therefore change.
What justifies an opening in 2016?
Since the exclusion of MSM from donating blood in 1983, the French position has been categorical: reinstating them is out of the question. “We always have in mind the case of contaminated blood in the 1980s, which explains the great caution today,” Coline Mey analyzes. And yet, little by little, the world is starting to review the criteria for blood collection. In France, it begins with the donation of plasma – with the same conditions as for heterosexuals – then the donation of whole blood.
What justifies this development is a mixture of medical and social progress. “The epidemiology of AIDS has evolved, which justifies an evolution of measures, develops Dr François Charpentier, director of the transfusion chain at the French Blood Establishment, contacted by Why actor. The definitive postponement measure has induced side effects, such as people masking their homosexuality in order to give. A less severe measure could bring better adherence. “
Dr François Charpentier, director of the transfusion chain at the EFS: ” We have hindsight on the current definitive postponement measure. A less severe measure, which would open up, has every chance of doing better than the one it replaces. And the measurement we have today will not necessarily be the one we will have in 2020. “
How can you be guaranteed quality blood?
On their own, MSM account for 40% of new HIV infections. “This is what makes us set up specific criteria,” recalls Coline Mey. Criteria that also apply to other sexual orientations: injecting drug users and transfused persons are excluded. The donation can also be temporarily postponed depending on sexual practices – four months postponement for heterosexuals with multiple partners – or travel. “What must be remembered is that if you want to donate blood responsibly, you take these criteria into account,” says the AIDES manager. Donating blood is not a right. It is a right to receive blood with a maximum level of security. “
Precisely, to secure donations as much as possible, the EFS has set up a strict donation process. Upstream, a questionnaire and a medical interview are imposed on each donor. Downstream, tubes are used for biological qualification. “We are looking for diseases transmissible by transfusion, HIV, HCV and HBV,” explains François Charpentier. You can also search for syphilis, malaria or other diseases according to the questionnaire. At the end of this process, the examination results are reconciled and it is decided whether the product is qualified or not. “
What are other countries doing?
So far, 9 countries have authorized the donation of blood to homosexuals. The period of abstinence, on the other hand, is variable. Two states, Canada and New Zealand, have opted for the very long term and require 5 years without sex. Portugal, on the other hand, is very progressive and imposes the same regulations on all sexual orientations. Italy and Spain cut the pear in half, with respectively 6 and 4 months of abstinence. “This remains marginal compared to what is happening in the world,” however tempers Coline Mey. Indeed, the model that will follow France is by far the most followed: in Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, a year must elapse between the donation and the last sexual intercourse with another man. .