Gay Blood - What's the difference?

Gay rights campaigners have been working for the equal treatment of homosexual men by the blood donation services in the UK for years. Homosexual men were banned from donating blood – indefinitely – in 1985 due to concerns over the increase in cases of HIV. Nearly 30 years on and gay men are still treated differently to other members of society by the blood service of one region in the UK...

Back in 2003 the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS) published an ‘Equality Impact Assessment on Access to Blood Donor Services’. The report reviewed the NIBTS under the context of section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Section 75 states that:

“A public authority shall in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity – between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial groups, age, marital status or sexual orientation.”

The 2003 report acknowledged that the donor policy of the time, to permanently ban gay men from donating blood, had a differential impact on the gay community. It said that the NIBTS would bring forward the discussion of a 12 months ban with the appropriate parties.

Fast forward to 2011 and the NIBTS is called upon again to review its services against section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland. This time the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) was undertaking a review of blood donation criteria relating to men who have sex with men. NIBTS published in their report of 2011 that “the BTS will continue to regularly review relevant policies and will adopt any changes as per UK Guidelines… Any change to the policy by NIBTS will be in the light of SaBTO and DH (Department of Health) recommendations.”

In April 2011 SaBTO released their report on the UK’s blood donation criteria. The report detailed the extensive improvement in testing for blood borne infections that has occurred since 1985. It also took into account societal changes, namely the concern that the permanent ban on homosexual men from donating blood projected negative stereotypes about the behaviour of the gay community.

The SaBTO report found that the risk of the blood supply becoming contaminated with an HIV infection with the lifetime ban on gay men in place is 1 infected donation for every 4.38 million donations. The risk of the blood supply becoming contaminated with an HIV infection with a 12 month ban on gay men instead is 1 infected donation for every 4.41 million donations. The difference, they said, was negligible.

In September 2011, Health Ministers from England, Scotland and Wales announced that they would accept the recommendation of SaBTO and would change the deferral period of men who have sex with men to 12 months since their last sexual contact. The change came into effect on the 7^th November 2011.

On 23^rd September 2011, Health Minister for Northern Ireland, Edwin Poots, gave a written reply to a question put to the Northern Ireland Executive. In this published reply, Mr Poots said “I take the view that the current position in Northern Ireland should not be altered.” Just over one month later, gay rights group ‘Rainbow Project’ appeared in Stormont to address Mr Poots’ decision. Mr Poots had changed his mind. He said in front of the Health Committee: “I have not made the final decision on blood donations by men who have had sex with men.”

Months later and Mr Poots still hasn’t made his mind up. His hypocrisy is deep and the irony, rich.

By declaring that he is seeking further evidence on top of the SaBTO report, the Democratic Unionist Party Minister is implying that the Health Ministers in the rest of the UK have not taken due consideration of all the facts available. He is setting his Health Department a part from the majority policy within the nations making up the UK. Not only this, but since declaring that he has not decided whether to change the blood donation deferral period for gay men, and since Scotland changed its policy to 12 months deferral, Northern Ireland has received blood supplies from Scotland.

Within these imported units of blood, the donation of a gay man who has not had sexual contact with another man in 12 months, could have helped save the life of a sick person in Northern Ireland.

The Health Minister’s indecision is an outright display of prejudice against the Northern Irish gay community. He is the only obstacle standing in the way of the UK receiving much needed donations of blood from a section of society that has been deemed by medical experts, globally, not to be a threat to the safety of the blood supply. Minister Poots is denying gay men the right to an altruistic act and he is denying those in need of blood from taking it from safe donors.