Ban on Gay Male Blood Donors Gets Review In Canada

At a three-day meeting beginning Wednesday, the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) will hear from experts, blood recipients and donors as it reviews the rules determining who should, and who should not, be allowed to give blood. Themed "Blood-Borne HIV and Hepatitis: Optimizing the Donor Selection Process," the meeting will likely spark heated debate about an item on the national agency's donor questionnaire effectively banning blood donations by gay and bisexual men.

"Have you had sex with a man, even one time since 1977?" asks the question, which is posed only to males. If the answer is yes, the donor is "deferred" -- a polite way of saying they are not permitted to donate because of fears they are at greater risk than others of having HIV/AIDS. The mandatory question was added in 1986 -- a time when blood agencies worldwide were struggling to safeguard supplies.

CBS President Graham Sher called the matter "a difficult issue" that involves balancing rights and privileges. The overriding principle is that blood safety is paramount: "A recipient of a blood product has an absolute right to getting a product that is maximally, optimally safe," he said. But that must be balanced "against the requirement, or the wish or the desire of individuals to . . . be blood donors and feel that they're contributing in some way to their fellow human beings."

Some critics among gay and student groups have said the question should be replaced by a series of questions asking both heterosexual and homosexual potential donors whether they have engaged in specific high-risk activities like unprotected anal sex. But the Canadian Hemophilia Society, whose members are regular blood users, is leery about changing the question. "In the hierarchy of rights, the most important right of all is the right to life," said group spokesperson Bill Mindell, who called on critics to produce scientific evidence supporting the need for a change.

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