From April 2, 2020, homosexual blood donors will no longer be obliged to observe a period of sexual abstinence of one year, but only of four months.
It was a promise from the Ministry of Solidarity and Health and a “first step” towards aligning the conditions for blood donation for all “by 2022”. As of April 2, 2020, homosexual donors will see the period of sexual abstinence that they must respect before any blood donation go from one year to four months.
The measure was announced last July and was originally due to come into force on 1er February 2020. According to a decree published Thursday, December 26 at Official newspaperit will finally be ratified two months later, the time for the General Directorate of Health (DGS) to print a new version of the questionnaire that candidates for blood donation must complete.
The decision was taken as part of the regular evaluation of donor selection criteria and “is based on scientific, objective and independent elements”, assured the Ministry of Health this summer. Out of respect for the recipients, this measure can only be taken after a “transparent” risk assessment, it is specified.
The end of a discriminatory measure according to the associations
Since 1983 and until 2016, homosexual men were not allowed to donate blood because of the risk of HIV transmission.
In 2016, a decree relaxed this ban by establishing a one-year abstinence period for blood donors and authorizing plasma donation according to the same criteria as other donors. It had then aroused numerous criticisms from LGBTQI + associations who had argued that it was a discriminatory measure.
The shortening of the abstinence period to four months was welcomed this summer by AIDES and the French Association of Hemophiliacs. “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 recalled in a joint press release. “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.
Decline in blood donations in December
This publication in Official newspaper comes as stocks of red blood cells, plasma and other blood products are extremely low at this time of year in several regions of France, particularly Île-de-France. According to French blood establishment (EFS) the losses are estimated at 350 fewer donations per day, or about 3,800 missing donations since the beginning of the month due, in particular, to the gastroenteritis and flu epidemics.
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– French Blood Establishment (@EFS_dondesang) December 23, 2019
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