Australian Red Cross Lifeblood loosens rules around LGBTQIA+ donating blood and plasma
Restrictions around sexually active gay and bisexual men donating blood and plasma are being loosened in a new world-leading move by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.
Under current rules, gay and bisexual men, and transgender women who have sex with men, cannot donate blood or plasma if they have had sex in the past three months.
But from July 14, in the first set of rule changes, Lifeblood will remove most restrictions on donating plasma related to sexual activity.
It has called this world-first the "plasma pathway", and says it will mean "most people, including gay and bisexual men, and anyone who takes PrEP, will be able to donate plasma without a wait period, providing they meet all other eligibility criteria".
PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis and involves HIV-negative people taking antiretroviral medication to protect them and prevent infection.
"Extensive research and modelling show that there will be no impact to the safety of the plasma supply with this change," Lifeblood said in a statement.
Lifeblood chief medical officer Jo Pink said plasma was now the donation Australians needed the most, and the change would allow more than 600,000 extra people to give blood.
"We're excited to be able to welcome more people from across the community into our donor centres from next month," Dr Pink told News Breakfast.
"We now anticipate an extra 24,000 donors and 95,000 extra donations of plasma to be made each year."
Dash Heath-Paynter, the CEO of Health Equity Matters, said the change "potentially unlocks thousands of donations of life-saving plasma".
"Members of the LGBQTIA+ community members can now help those whose lives depend on plasma donations without a donation deferral period," Mr Heath-Paynter said.
Alongside the changes to plasma donation rules, Lifeblood is working towards making changes to blood and platelet donation eligibility.
Lifeblood said the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had approved a submission to remove gender-based sexual activity rules.
It will mean that all donors will be given the same questions about sexual activity, regardless of gender or sexuality, once the changes come into effect.
Men will no longer be asked if they have had sex with another man before they donate blood.
On top of that, people in a sexual relationship of six months or more with a single partner will be able to donate blood and most people with new or multiple partners will also be able to donate if they have not had anal sex in the past three months.
Lifeblood has not given a date for when the changes will come into effect, but Dr Pink is hopeful of it being from early next year.
"There are many steps that Lifeblood needs to take before we can implement the new gender-neutral assessments, including working with state and territory governments to change the donor questionnaire," Dr Pink said.
These changes to blood- and plasma-donating rules will "make it easier for more people in the LGBTQIA+ community to donate" Dr Pink added.
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