It has been requested that the title of this article be changed to Blood donation restrictions on men who have sex with men . Please see the relevant discussion on the discussion page. The page should not be moved unless the discussion is closed; summarizing the consensus achieved in support of the move. |
The men who have sex with men blood donor controversy is the dispute over prohibitions on donations of blood or tissue for organ transplants from men who have sex with men (MSM), a classification of men who engage (or have engaged in the past) in sex with other men, regardless of whether they identify themselves as bisexual, gay or otherwise. Restrictions on donors are sometimes called "deferrals", since blood donors who are found ineligible may be found eligible at a later date. However, many deferrals are indefinite meaning that donation may not be accepted at any point in the future, thus constituting a de facto ban. Restrictions vary from country to country and in some countries practice of protected sex or periods of abstinence are not considered. The restrictions affect these men and, in some cases, any female sex partners. They do not otherwise affect other women, including women who have sex with women. The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) asserts that the one year deferral window is "supported by the best available scientific evidence". [1]
A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation. Donation may be of whole blood, or of specific components directly. Blood banks often participate in the collection process as well as the procedures that follow it.
Men who have sex with men (MSM), also known as males who have sex with males, are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves. They may identify as gay, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, or dispense with sexual identification altogether.
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term was originally used to mean "carefree", "cheerful", or "bright and showy".
Many LGBT organizations view the restrictions on donation as based on homophobia and not based on valid medical concern since donations are rigorously tested to rule out donors that are infected with known viruses such as HIV, HPV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. They state the deferrals are based on stereotypes. [2] Proponents of the lifetime restriction defend it because of the asserted risk of false negative test results [3] and because the MSM population in developed countries tends to have a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection. [4] The UK government advisory committee, SABTO, stated in 2013 that "the risk of transfusion of HIV infected blood would increase if MSM were allowed to donate blood". [5] In July 2017 however, the UK government reduced the one year deferral window to three months, to take effect in the following months, resulting from SABTO's updated conclusions that "new testing systems were accurate and donors were good at complying with the rules". Furthermore, NHS Blood and Transplant are now investigating how possible it is for MSM, depending on degree of risk, to donate without even the three month deferral. [6]
LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which was used to replace the term gay in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. Activists believed that the term gay community did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred.
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, may be based on irrational fear and ignorance, and is often related to religious beliefs.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Following initial infection, a person may not notice any symptoms or may experience a brief period of influenza-like illness. Typically, this is followed by a prolonged period with no symptoms. As the infection progresses, it interferes more with the immune system, increasing the risk of developing common infections such as tuberculosis, as well as other opportunistic infections, and tumors that rarely affect people who have uncompromised immune systems. These late symptoms of infection are referred to as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This stage is often also associated with unintended weight loss.
Advocates for change to MSM prohibitions point out that screening of donors should focus on sexual behavior as well as safe sex practices since many MSM may always have protected sex, be monogamous, or be in other low risk categories. [2] [5] Some groups in favor of lifting the restrictions support a waiting period after the blood is donated when the donor is considered to have had behavior considered higher risk, and before it is used, to match the blood bank's window of testing methods. [2] While HIV is reliably detected in 10 to 14 days with RNA testing, older testing methods provide accuracy for only up to 98% of positive cases after three months. [7]
Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or devices to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer sex or protected sex to indicate that some safe sex practices do not completely eliminate STI risks. It is also sometimes used colloquially to describe methods aimed at preventing pregnancy that may or may not also lower STI risks.
Monogamy is a form of relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime—alternately, only one partner at any one time —as compared to non-monogamy. The term is also applied to the social behavior of some animals, referring to the state of having only one mate at any one time.
There are massive amounts of residual fear about blood product contamination stemming from the contaminated blood scandals, which have caused thousands of deaths due to HIV and Hepatitis C in patients requiring a blood transfusion.[ citation needed ] Contaminated blood put haemophiliacs at massive risk and severe mortality, increasing the risk of common surgical procedures. People who contracted HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion include Isaac Asimov, who received a blood transfusion following a cardiac surgery.
Contaminated haemophilia blood products were a serious public health problem in the late 1970s up to 1985.
Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer who wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.
In many developed countries HIV is more prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM) than among the general population. [4]
In the United States in 2005, MSM, African Americans, and persons engaging in high-risk heterosexual behavior accounted for respectively 49%, 49%, and 32% of new HIV diagnoses. [8] In 2009 in the United States, African Americans accounted for 47.9% of new HIV diagnoses reported that year, but represented approximately only 12% of the population. [9]
African Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. The term typically refers to descendants of enslaved black people who are from the United States.
Parts of this article (those related to policies and events) need to be updated.March 2012) ( |
This list shows countries that had restrictions on blood donors. [10] [11] Most national standards require direct questioning regarding a man's sexual history, but the length of deferral varies.
Country | Deferral for MSM | Deferral for female sex partners of MSM | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
No deferral | No deferral | ||
Indefinite | [ citation needed ] | ||
No deferral | No deferral | [12] [13] [14] [15] | |
1 year | 1 year | [16] | |
Indefinite | [17] | ||
1 year | 1 year | In June 2019, it was explicitly reported by the LGBT media, that Belgium banned transgender individuals from donating blood. [18] | |
No deferral | No deferral | [20] | |
Indefinite | [21] | ||
1 year | 1 year | [22] | |
No deferral | [ citation needed ] | ||
3 months | 3 months | In June 2019, the deferral period for gay and bi men was reduced from 1 year to 3 months. [23] [24] | |
No deferral | No deferral | [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] | |
Indefinite | [30] | ||
No deferral | No deferral | [31] | |
No deferral | [32] | ||
Indefinite | [33] | ||
1 year | 1 year | [34] | |
Indefinite | 4 months | [35] Sometime in 2019, Denmark will allow gay men to donate blood after a 4 month deferral period. [36] [37] | |
Indefinite | [38] | ||
1 year | 1 year | [39] | |
1 year | [40] From 1st February 2020, France will allow gay men to donate blood after a 4 month deferral period. [41] | ||
1 year | [42] | ||
Indefinite | [ citation needed ] | ||
1 year | [43] [44] | ||
1 year | [10] | ||
Indefinite | |||
1 year | [45] [46] [47] [48] | ||
1 year | No deferral | Since January 2018, Israel implemented a 1 year deferral period. [49] [50] [51] | |
No deferral | No deferral | [10] [52] | |
6 months | [53] | ||
No deferral [lower-alpha 1] | No deferral [lower-alpha 1] | [55] | |
Indefinite | [56] | ||
Indefinite | [57] | ||
Indefinite | Indefinite | [58] | |
Indefinite | Sometime in 2019, Malta will allow gay men to donate blood after a 6 month deferral period. [59] [60] | ||
No deferral | No deferral | [61] | |
1 year | 1 year | [62] [63] | |
1 year | 1 year | [64] | |
1 year | 1 year | [65] | |
1 year | 1 year | [66] [67] | |
No deferral | No deferral | [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] | |
Indefinite | [ citation needed ] | ||
No deferral [lower-alpha 1] | No deferral [lower-alpha 1] | [10] [73] [74] [75] | |
1 year | 1 year | [76] [77] | |
No deferral | No deferral | [78] [79] | |
No deferral | No deferral | ||
6 months | [ citation needed ] | ||
Indefinite | [80] | ||
No deferral | No deferral | [81] [ irrelevant citation ] | |
1 year | No deferral | [82] | |
1 year | [83] | ||
Indefinite | [84] | ||
No deferral | No deferral | [10] | |
1 year | 1 year | [85] [86] | |
1 year | 1 year | [87] | |
5 years | 5 years | Since May 2018, Taiwan legally by new blood donation regulations allows LGBT people to donate blood, only after a 5 year deferral period. [88] | |
Indefinite | Indefinite | [89] [90] | |
Indefinite | 1 year | [91] | |
Indefinite | [ citation needed ] | ||
Indefinite | [92] | ||
3 months [93] | 3 months [93] | [94] [95] [96] | |
1 year | 1 year | [97] [98] | |
1 year | No deferral | [99] | |
Indefinite [lower-alpha 2] | No deferral | [ citation needed ] |
A comparison of confirmed HIV positive blood donations before and after the change did not see a statistically significant difference. [10]
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service pushed to have the deferral period lowered from twelve to six months however it was rejected by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The Red Cross will re-submit their application to reduce the deferral period to six months in 2018. [100]
Italy, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Spain are the only European countries that don't have deferral policies for men who have sex with men. The donation is allowed if the donor hasn't had a risky sexual encounter, but not depending on the sexual orientation of the donor. [101] [102] The UK since November 2017 has implemented a 3 month deferral policy on all gay/bi men who want to donate their blood. However this does not apply to Northern Ireland, which still has a 12 month deferral period in place. [103] [104] [105] The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs recommended the policy change after a study concluded that a total ban may breach equality legislation and that the risk of HIV reaching the blood supply would only increase by approximately 2%. [106]
In Ireland, men who have sex with men (MSM) may donate blood if they have not engaged in oral or anal sex with another man at least 12 months prior to a donation. This policy came into effect from 16 January 2017. On 27 July 2015, Tomás Heneghan, a 23-year-old University of Limerick student and journalist from Galway began a legal challenge in the High Court against the permanent deferral imposed on MSM donors. [107] [108] He argued that the questionnaire and interview process used by the IBTS does not adequately assess the risk of disease transmission posed by his donation. He claims this is in breach of EU law. He said that both failed to consider the length of time between a donor's last sexual experience and the end of a "window period" in which infections are sometimes not detected. Heneghan's previous sexual activity posed no risk of infection, according to HSE-approved advice and he said the service had no evidence upon which it could legitimately impose a life-long ban on him donating blood. Following several adjournments of the case to allow the blood service and Department of Health to examine and develop the donation policies, in late June 2016 the Irish Blood Transfusion Service recommended that the lifetime ban on MSM be reduced to a 12 month ban. Later that week the Minister for Health Simon Harris agreed to the recommendations and announced the reduction would take place. However no timeline was reported for the implementation of the new policies. [109]
On 26 July 2016, Tomás Heneghan dropped his High Court challenge against the service as an end to the lifetime deferral on MSM blood donors had been announced in the interim. [110] Heneghan then wrote about his experiences of challenging the ban in a number of national media outlets. [111] [112] On 2 October 2016, it was reported that Minister Harris would implement the new policy from 16 January 2017, almost seven months after he announced the policy change. [45] On 16 January 2017, Heneghan (now 25) attended a blood donation clinic in D'Olier Street, Dublin and became the first man who has had sex with another man to donate blood openly in the Republic of Ireland since the lifetime deferral policy was first introduced in the 1980s. However he also criticised the new 12 month deferral policy on MSM and called on Ireland's Health Minister to initiate a review of the IBTS and replace the 12 month deferral period for MSM with no deferral or a 3 month deferral on all donors following sexual intercourse. [113] [114] [115] [116]
On 20 May 2019, Heneghan (27) initiated a fresh legal challenge in the High Court against the blanket deferral on men who have had oral or anal sex with another man in the previous 12-month period. [117] [118] [119] [120]
Heneghan claims he cannot understand the reasoning behind the IBTS policy and argues that the questionnaire does not enable the IBTS to make a full evaluation of the level of risk presented by an individual donor due to their sexual behaviour. He also states that according to the IBTS’s own website, there is a window period following infection during which HIV and hepatitis may not be detected in the blood and that this window is seven days for HIV and 16 days for hepatitis. He claims that a far less onerous restriction could be imposed rather than the 12-month deferral, which would protect blood recipients. He claims the decision to place an “automatic deferral” on him is unlawful and in breach of EU law and European communities regulations on the quality and safety of human blood products and that the policy is disproportionate, discriminates against homosexual and bisexual men, and breaches his constitutional rights and rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The case is due to return to the court in July 2019.
A similar policy exists in the rest of the European Union and is the prevailing interpretation of the European Union Directive 2004/33/EC article 2.1 on donor deferrals. [121] The policy, however, is not very specific and refers to "high risk sexual contact." The UK interprets the directive to include all forms of homosexual sex as falling within 2.2.2 of Annex III to the directive "Persons whose behaviour or activity places them at risk of acquiring infectious diseases that may be transmitted by blood", requiring a deferral based on the window period for the diseases involved, and sets this at 12 months, despite the Annex suggesting 6 months for risk of exposure to Hepatitis B. Hélder Trindade, President of the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST), stated in 2015 that sexually abstinent homosexuals may give blood, but that MSM is definitely seen as a risk factor. [122]
In Finland, the parliamentary ombudsman launched an investigation on the possible unconstitutionality of the lifetime ban in January 2006. In June 2008, it was concluded that the ban was not unlawful in Finland as it is based on "appropriately reasoned epidemiological information" and because it is related to sexual behaviour rather than sexual orientation. The ombudsman added that people over the age of 65 and people who lived in Britain during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) outbreak are also screened out during blood donor interviews. In December 2013, the Finnish Red Cross blood service announced it was lifting the ban and introducing a one-year deferral instead.
Since 10 July 2016, France implemented a 1-year deferral period policy on all gay and bisexual men donating blood. [123]
Since 2009, the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) had deferred males who have had oral or anal intercourse, with or without protection, with another male for five years. From the formation of the NZBS in 1998 to 2009, the deferral period had been ten years, but reduced to five years following an independent review of blood donation criteria in 2007-8 which found no significant difference in risk to the blood supply for deferral periods of five years compared to ten years. [124]
In 2014, the NZBS dropped the ban period from 5 years to one year following the recommendation of Medsafe. [125] Their decision was mainly caused by recently gained facts about HIV transmission in Australia [126] which already had a one-year deferral. The new 1 year deferral has been in effect since 15 December 2014.
The one year deferral period for MSM is on par with the one year deferral period for persons engaging in prostitution outside of New Zealand and people who have resided in a country which has a high (1% or more) HIV prevalence. Females who engage in sexual intercourse with a male who has had sex with another male are also deferred for twelve months. [127]
In the US, the current guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to defer any male donor who has had sex with another man (MSM) in the past year. This has been so since December 2015. [128]
Female sexual partners of MSM are deferred for one year since the last exposure. This is the same policy used for any sexual partner of someone in a high risk group. [129] The argument used to follow these policies is that blood should be collected from a population that is at low risk for disease, since the tests are not perfect and human error may lead to infected units not being properly discarded, and these population groups would be considered a high risk. The policy was first put in place in 1983 by the FDA, which regulates blood donations to profit and non-profit organizations. [130]
Donors of what the FDA calls "HCT/P's", a category that includes transplants (other than organs) and some reproductive tissue, notably anonymous semen donations, are ineligible for five years after the most recent contact. [131] UNOS policies for Organ donation require the hospital receiving the organ to be notified if the donor was an MSM within the past 5 years. [132] The organs are generally used unless there is a clear positive test for a disease. The one year deferral was approved by the FDA on 21 December 2015, replacing a lifetime ban on donations from MSM. [133]
Blood services first and foremost must ensure that all blood received for donation is safe for transfusion purposes. This is achieved by screening potential donors for high risk behaviors through questionnaires and interviews before blood is taken, and subsequent laboratory testing on samples of donated blood.
Blood services commonly justify their bans against MSM using the statistically higher prevalence of HIV and hepatitis of MSM in population studies.
In the earliest years of the AIDS epidemic, there were no reliable tests for the virus, which justified blanket bans on blood donations from groups at high risk of acquiring or having HIV, including MSM. These restrictions are similar to present-day restrictions in most countries on people residing in the United Kingdom during the BSE ("mad cow disease") epidemic of the 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s, due to the absence of a test for its human form, variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD).
In 1985, early tests using the ELISA method looked for antibodies, which are the immune system's response to the virus. However, there is a window period when using this method in which a person who has been infected with HIV is able to spread the disease but may test negative for the virus. This window period can be as long as three to six months, [148] with an average of 22 days. [149] Tests using the ELISA methods are often still used in developed countries because they are highly sensitive. In developing countries, these tests are often the only method used to screen donated blood for HIV. To cover the window period resultant from the use of these tests, donors are also screened for high risk behaviors, one of which is a history of same-sex sexual activity among male potential donors. Other groups with similar restrictions include commercial sex workers, injecting drug users, and people resident in countries with a high HIV prevalence (such as sub-Saharan Africa). Newer tests look for the virus itself, such as the p24 antigen test, which looks for a part on the surface of the virus, and Nucleic acid tests (NAT), which look for the genetic material of the virus. With these tests, the window period is shorter, with an average duration of 12 days. [149] Fourth generation combination HIV tests are conclusive at 3 months, and Hepatitis B tests are conclusive at 6 months.
Risks are also associated with a non-MSM donors testing positive for HIV, which can have major implications as the donor's last donation could have been given within the window period for testing and could have entered the blood supply, potentially infecting blood product recipients. An incident in 2003 in New Zealand saw a non-MSM donor testing positive for HIV and subsequently all blood products made with the donor's last blood donation had to be recalled. This included NZ$4 million worth of Factor VIII, a blood clotting factor used to treat hemophiliacs which is manufactured from large pools of donated plasma, and subsequently led to a nationwide shortage of Factor VIII and the deferral of non-emergency surgery on hemophiliac patients, costing the health sector millions of dollars more. [124] Screening out those at high risk of bloodborne diseases, including MSM, reduces the potential frequency and impact of such incidents.
Objections to the restrictions, including those from the American Medical Association [150] and the American Red Cross, are generally based on the idea that improvements in testing and other safeguards have reduced the risk from transfusion transmitted HIV to an acceptable level. Blood shortages are common, and advocates for change to the policies point out that excluding healthy donors only makes the problem worse. "Ideal" inventories are at least a three-day supply, but many blood centers struggle to meet this demand.[ citation needed ]
Further advocating for change stems from the fact that the ban is a blanket ban encompassing all men who have had sex with another man, even with protection and even if the HIV status of these men's partners is shown beyond doubt to be negative. Advocates for change point out that a promiscuous straight male is a higher-risk donor than a gay or bisexual man in a monogamous relationship, but the former will usually be allowed to donate blood. Furthermore, other high-risk activities such as having sexual contact with anyone who has used needles to take drugs not prescribed by their doctor have a set deferral period before the donor is allowed to donate blood, whereas in some countries MSM donors are deferred indefinitely. Female donors who have sexual contact with MSM are sometimes deferred temporarily.[ citation needed ]
Following a mass shooting targeting a gay nightclub in June 2016, there were reported expressions of frustration and disapproval by a number of gay and bisexual men who were forbidden to donate blood to victims, with LGBT activists across the country and a group of Democratic lawmakers [151] urging the ban to be lifted. The FDA later said it had no plans of changing the regulation and will reevaluate its policies "as new scientific information becomes available". [152] [153] [154]
In Canada
In the United States [130]
In the United Kingdom
In 2015, Welsh writer and poet RJ Arkhipov exhibited a poetry series written with his own blood as ink in protest of the MSM blood donor restrictions. His poem Inkwell discusses the shame and stigma surrounding "gay blood". An abecedarian poem, each line of Inkwell’s five quatrains begins with letters from each of the blood groups, alternating between A, B, AB and O. [170] [171] [172]
In 2018 the European Court of Human Rights took up a case of a French citizen who was prevented from donating blood. [173]
Plasmapheresis is the removal, treatment, and return or exchange of blood plasma or components thereof from and to the blood circulation. It is thus an extracorporeal therapy.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people in Hungary have evolved through Hungarian history. Homosexuality is legal in Hungary for both men and women. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is banned in the country. However, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal rights available to opposite-sex married couples. Registered partnership for same-sex couples was legalized in 2009, but same-sex marriage is banned.
Bareback sex is physical sexual activity, especially sexual penetration, without the use of a condom. It most commonly refers to anal sex between men who have sex with men without the use of a condom, and may be distinguished from unprotected sex because of the deliberate act of forgoing condom use that is associated with it.
Canadian Blood Services is a not-for-profit charitable organization that operates independently from government. Created through a memorandum of understanding between the federal, provincial and territorial governments, it opened its doors in 1998. Its funding comes primarily from provincial and territorial governments.
Attitudes in Ireland towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are regarded as among the most liberal in the world. Ireland is notable for its transformation from a country holding overwhelmingly conservative attitudes toward LGBT issues to one holding overwhelmingly liberal ones in the space of a generation. In May 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage on a national level by popular vote. The New York Times hailed the victory as putting Ireland at the "vanguard of social change". Since July 2015, transgender people in Ireland can self-declare their gender for the purpose of updating passports, driving licences, obtaining new birth certificates, and getting married. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in the state since 1993. Government recognition of LGBT rights in Ireland has expanded greatly over the past two decades. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, and most forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation are now outlawed. Ireland also forbids incitement to hatred based on sexual orientation.
In England, blood and other tissues are collected by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which also processes and supplies blood products to hospitals in the country through the Bio Products Laboratory. NHSBT Blood Donation was previously known as the National Blood Service until it merged with UK Transplant in 2005 to form a NHS special health authority. Other official blood services in the United Kingdom include the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Welsh Blood Service.
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) is a branch of the Australian Red Cross. It is the body primarily responsible for blood donation and related services in Australia. Australian Red Cross Blood Service employs around 3,700 employees across scientific, medical and support services, processing over half a million non-remunerated blood donors each year.
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), or Seirbhís Fuilaistriúcháin na hÉireann in Irish, was established in Ireland as the Blood Transfusion Service Board (BTSB) by the Blood Transfusion Service Board (Establishment) Order, 1965. It took its current name in April 2000 by Statutory Instrument issued by the Minister for Health and Children to whom it is responsible. The Service provides blood and blood products for humans.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in the Netherlands have been some of the most progressive in the world. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1811 after France invaded the country and installed the Napoleonic Code, erasing any remaining sodomy laws and no more were enacted after the country received independence. An age of consent equal with that of heterosexual activity was put in place in 1971. During the late 20th century, awareness surrounding homosexuality grew and society became more tolerant of homosexuals, eventually leading to its declassification as a mental illness in 1973 and a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in the military. The Equal Treatment Act 1994 bans discrimination on sexual orientation on the grounds of employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas. This was extented in 2019 to include discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. After the country began granting same-sex couples domestic partnerships benefits in 1998, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. Same-sex joint and stepchild adoption are also permitted. Lesbian couples can get access to IVF as well.
The Caribbean is the second-most affected region in the world in terms of HIV prevalence rates. Based on 2009 data, about 1.0 percent of the adult population is living with the disease, which is higher than any other region except Sub-Saharan Africa. Several factors influence this epidemic, including poverty, gender, sex tourism, and stigma. HIV incidence in the Caribbean declined 49% between 2001 and 2012. Different countries have employed a variety of responses to the disease, with a range of challenges and successes.
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) is a type of brain disease within the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy family. Symptoms include psychiatric problems, behavioral changes, and painful sensations. The length of time between exposure and the development of symptoms is unclear, but is believed to be years. Average life expectancy following the onset of symptoms is 13 months.
The history of HIV/AIDS in Australia is distinctive, as Australian government bodies recognised and responded to the AIDS pandemic relatively swiftly, with the implementation of successful disease prevention and public health programs, such as needle and syringe programs (NSPs). As a result, despite significant numbers of at-risk group members contracting the disease in the early period following its discovery, the country achieved and has maintained a low rate of HIV infection in comparison to the rest of the world.
A Transfusion transmitted infection (TTI) is a virus, parasite, or other potential pathogen that can be transmitted in donated blood through a transfusion to a recipient. The term is usually limited to known pathogens, but also sometimes includes agents such as Simian foamy virus which are not known to cause disease.
The South African National Blood Service, (SANBS), is a non-profit organisation that provides human blood for transfusion that operates in South Africa, with the exception of the Western Cape. The head office is in Weltevredenpark, Gauteng, near Johannesburg, but there are blood collection operations in eight of the nine provinces. Western Cape has a separate blood center, the Western Province Blood Transfusion Service. SANBS was founded in 2001 from a merger of seven blood centres, and was embroiled in controversy in 2004 over a policy of racial profiling for blood safety.
The MSM blood donor controversy in the United Kingdom refers to the deferral policy of men who have had sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom who wish to donate their blood to the National Blood Service (NBS).
Since reports of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) began to emerge in the United States in the 1980s, the HIV epidemic has frequently been linked to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) by epidemiologists and medical professionals. The first official report on the virus was published by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on June 5, 1981 and detailed the cases of five young gay men who were hospitalised with serious infections. A month later, The New York Times reported that 41 homosexuals had been diagnosed with Kaposi’s Sarcoma, and eight had died less than 24 months after the diagnosis was made. By 1982, the condition was referred to in the medical community as (Gay-related immune deficiency, "gay cancer," and "gay compromise syndrome." It was not until July 1982 that the term Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was suggested to replace GRID, and even then it was not until September that the CDC first used the AIDS acronym in an official report.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2015.
Blood donations in India are conducted by several organizations and hospitals by organizing blood donation camps. Donors can also visit blood banks in hospitals to donate blood or directly to a receiver. Despite shortage of donated blood, efforts by the government and various organizations have led to a decrease in the demand and supply gap over the years. The number of voluntary blood donors increased from 54.4% in 2006–2007 to 83.1% in 2011–2012, with the number of blood units increasing from 4.4 million units in 2006–2007 to 9.3 million units in 2012–2013. In 2016, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported a donation of 10.9 million units against a requirement of 12 million units.
E`lanak 16. Trajno se iskljue`uju kao davatelji krvi: [...] osobe sa homoseksualnim ponašanjem [...]
|title=
(help)... 輸血を必要とする患者さんへの感染を防ぐため、過去6カ月間に下記に該当する方は、献血をご遠慮いただいています。... 男性どうしの性的接触があった。 (Translation: To prevent infecting patients requiring blood transfusion, those who match any of the following within the last six months should refrain from donating blood. ... Sexual contact between two males.)
The President of the Institute of Blood explains that "sexual contact by men with other men is definitely (seen) as a risk factor" (Presidente do Instituto do Sangue explica que "contacto sexual de homens com outros homens é definido como fator de risco")
'The FDA has examined the possibility of eliminating all deferrals for HIV and simply relying on testing of donated blood or reducing the deferral window; however, scientifically robust data are not available to show that this would not lead to decreased safety of the blood supply,' the agency said in a statement to the Guardian.