From February 1, 2020, the period of abstinence imposed on homosexuals who want to donate blood will increase from one year to four months before the donation. This measure “is based on scientific, objective and independent elements”, assures the Ministry of Health.
This is a “first step” towards aligning the conditions for blood donation for homosexuals with those for heterosexuals. This Wednesday, July 17, the Ministry of Health announced a reduction in the period of abstinence currently imposed on homosexuals who want to donate blood.
From February 1, 2020, this will be reduced from one year to four months. That is the same period as for heterosexuals who have had more than one sexual partner in the four months preceding the donation. This decision was taken as part of the regular evaluation of donor selection criteria and “is based on scientific, objective and independent elements”, assures the ministry. Out of respect for the recipients, this measure can only be taken after a risk assessment “in complete transparency”, it is specified.
The reaction of associations
This news greatly delighted the French Association of Hemophiliacs (AFH) and AIDES (fight against AIDS and hepatitis). In one joint statement, the associations said they took “note of this decision”. “Blood donation is not a right” and “does not have to respond to a social demand of donors but to the needs of recipients”, they recall. “It is necessary to strengthen the resources allocated to the blood sector in France, and to work on the training of professionals and more broadly, on the improvement of questionnaires, the conduct of interviews and the way in which deferred donors are supported” , insists the press release.
In 2016, the one-year abstinence instituted by a decree had aroused numerous criticisms from homosexual associations which considered this discriminatory measure. Despite all this remained an advance in their favor given that since 1983, because of the risks of AIDS, men having homosexual relations were not allowed to donate blood at all. Also since July 2016, homosexuals can donate their plasma on the same criteria as other donors. Used in case of haemorrhage, plasma is also used to make drugs.
A decision made after several studies
The decision announced today was taken after studies by the public health agency Santé Publique France (SpF) showed that the opening of blood donation to homosexuals in 2016 did not increase the risk of HIV transmission, already “very weak” in France. Moreover, according to a study of 110,000 donors, the criteria for access to blood donation are most often respected. It rarely happens that they are not, because they are not understood or accepted, explains the ministry.
The latter hesitated for a long time between two proposals: the opening of the donation to men who had not had sexual relations with men in the four months preceding it or to homosexuals who had only one partner during the four months before the gift. After analyzing the risks, the health agency SpF observed that “the first scenario with four months of abstinence did not lead to a modification of the risk, unlike the second with which the theoretical risk of contamination was multiplied by two”. These data were shared with representatives of donors, recipients and associations such as Helpers and homodonors, specifies the ministry.
Blood donation drops during summer holidays
This announcement from the ministry comes even as blood donations are in freefall. Each year, during the summer, the Blood Establishment suffers from the departure of donors (4% of French people) on vacation. Because “blood needs never take a vacation”, deplores Djamel Benomar, director of collection at the French Blood Establishment in the Ile-de-France region with The Express.
“To be able to manage sick patients with a satisfactory level of reserves, we have a daily need of 10,000 donations per day. At the beginning of June, the reserves were very low, due in particular to public holidays, bridges of the month of May… We therefore launched the operation “Take over, one month to give everyone!”, which worked very well: we went from a reserve of 85,000 pockets, which allowed us to hold only 8 or 9 days, to a reserve of 115,000 pockets!But unfortunately, the heat wave has arrived, and with it, the cessation of donations. Suddenly, we lost 10,000 donations,” he explains, recalling that a million patients need transfusions each year.
Because patients cannot wait for donors to return from vacation, mobile blood drives are organized throughout France. “We thus have 120 fixed sites, and more than 40,000 mobile collections per year: people can come and donate in the trucks at the edge of the beaches, in the town halls, in the hospitals…”, explains Djamel Benomar. If you wish to donate your blood , go to the website of theFrench blood establishment to find the nearest collection point. The app Blood donationwill also allow you to geolocate the collection closest to you and test your ability to donate.
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