HSSD to allow gay men to give blood
Thursday 22nd September 2011, 1:00PM BST.
GAY men will soon be allowed to donate blood in Guernsey – as long as they have not had sex for a year.
The Health and Social Services Department has confirmed it will implement changes that were announced by the UK government this week – moving from a permanent ban on gay men donating blood to a policy that allows them to do so with conditions.
UK officials announced the new policy would come into effect from November. But an HSSD spokesman said it might take Guernsey a little longer.
‘Having now managed to obtain formal notification, Guernsey will be striving to implement this change on a date as close to the UK as possible.’
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I think that this is ridicules and that they should be allowed to have sex before giving blood. It doesn’t matter that they are gay, but aparrently is it to you! You should be appalled with yourselves. I know someone who is gay and he is one of the most gracious men I have ever known. Yours sincerly Danzi x
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… and the proof of not having had sex for a year is ………?
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Is this going to work!
I assume this is to protect against sexually tramsitied disease (AIDS) but this seems to rely on the word of the donor and I’m not saying they would lie but its ridiculous.
Also, you don’t have to have sex to have a transmittable disease. You can get it from a blood transfusion! What if you are raped/sodomised – male or female victim.
You either prohibit certain individuals from giving blood, and how do you check to see if they are gay etc, or accept all and screen/process the blood that is given to ensure it is ‘clean’.
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I am a regular blood donor and was under the impression that blood is screened for HIV, Hepatitus etc before use anyway regardless of who donated, so I have always wondered why gay men have not been permitted to do so?
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If I haven’t had sex for more than a year, HSSD can drain me of every last drop of blood I have!
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Statistics show that Gay men are still at the highest risk of HIV within the UK
But surly they screen all blood donations for HIV these days
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I don’t get this.
I thought they tested the blood anyway. They did with mine.
Surely in terms of equality it would be better to profile people on their sexual preferences. Those who have unprotected sex with multiple partners of any sexual preference will be much more high risk, say than a gay gentlemen in a long term monogamous relationship.
In scientific terms it does not have much weight as a policy either. There is a “window period” when HIV is undetectable before the body creates the anti-bodies in response to the virus. It is stated as being up to roughly 2 months, nowhere near a year which is excessive.
I know you want to be safe and waiting a certain period is sensible, but if that was a major concern then the no sex for a period criteria would apply to heterosexuals too.
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Ray, if a man is willing to admit it it’s probably true …
It is quite ridiculous that a gay man , in a monogamous relationship, who practises safe sex can’t donate. Yet a heterosexual man can have unprotected sex as often as he likes with as many women as he likes and no problem …..
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Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable !
Is this a very early April 1st wind-up ?
Gay men can not give blood unless they have not had sex for a year ?? Are you joking ??
Who will be watching them anyway ???
By that logic does that mean that gay men who do not have sex for a year are free from Aids ? And that straight men as well as all females are also totally free of aids ??
What total nonsense !!
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This does seem crazy, perhaps it has something with ‘equality’? Given that most blood donors do so more than once a year perhaps they are only interested in gay monks?
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The ‘blood lady’ was asked by Kay Langlois on Radio Guernsey this morning how they could tell if a truthful answer was being given about sex abstention
The ‘blood lady’s’ reply was to the effect that all her staff had been trained in body language recognition and could easily tell if someone was not telling the truth … apparently one of the signs is that you stiffen up and your head turns purple
May I suggest that these people may be more useful to the general community if they were to transfer to the CID at Police HQ
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I think I am going to turn into a Jehovah’s Witness….
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Maybe blood from gays should only be given to gay recipiants ? something must be done until a cure is found to stop all this gayness.
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Ray – Great terminology – given the circumstances!!!
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Ray: “… not telling the truth … apparently one of the signs is that you stiffen up and your head turns purple”
Is somebody confusing lying with strangulation?
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And whats wrong with purple? just another racist comment.
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I think its ridiculous myself, the 12 month no nookie rule. Seriously, heterosexuals can have a healthy love life and donate, where as homosexuals need to abstain? Can’t see it myself.. “Sorry Fred, I’m saving myself for blood donation!”
And i’m also wondering if Ray has the blood bank donation mixed up with another bank? lol
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bcb
I am so NOT racist.You could say I’m ANTI racist with knobs on
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Taking on the bodily fluids of an unknown stranger is always going to be a dangerous game no matter how you dress it up.
The only safe way is to set aside your own blood ahead of any surgery when ever you can.
If that’s not possible then until they create a synthetic blood substitute, you have to spin the wheel and take your chances. Such is life in the 21st century !
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Theo, it might be possible to set aside your own blood for some planned surgery but it might not be acceptable depending on the reason for the surgery. And it wouldn’t work for unplanned transfusions because the blood has a shelf life of just four weeks.
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Still the same pointless rule being introduced in the UK offering a pretence of non-discrimination. As if monogamy is something anyone adheres to.
This is not the 1980s. Screening for HIV is now very effective and a ban on donations on the basis of being in a higher risk category is extremely weak. This still amounts to a ban for 99% of gay men.
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I am absolutely outraged and disgusted by this, I went to give blood last year and read the leaflet they give you. It looked like something from the 60′s…so backwards and archaic.
As mentioned all the blood is screened anyway. When is the world going to wake up?!
I am shocked and I am heterosexual, I would be outside the head office if I was homosexual.
START A PETITION!
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The 12 months no-nookie rule might appear ludicrous and unworkable but I presume the blood people are attempting to go for a ‘belt and braces’ approach. Yes, they will screen the blood but perhaps that is only 99.99% effective – would you want your child to be the one in 10,000 to be given HIV/AIDS via a transfusion? My daughter will be having an operation soon so naturally I favour a cautious approach. I would favour the exclusion of all those with a high risk profile for whatever reason.
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Im gay and a blood donor..I have been for many years.. I have also been in a gay relationship for many years with a great healthy sex life.. I trust my partner and therefore am 100% sure of my health status.I know others may not be.. but all blood is tested. I am sure that there are more hetrosexual guys and girls having random unprotected sex that are more likely to give infected blood…
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Ok, I am saying this as an openly gay man , who for medical reasons other than STI/HIV/AIDS type problems cannot give blood.
Forgive me for saying this but following many discussions on the HIV/AIDS issues locally it has been proved that heterosexual people in Guernsey are more likely to be carrying STI’s and be HIV positive, particularly those in the over 50 age group I can only take a guess that banning blood donors in Guernsey full stop would cause outrage.
The way the law stands at the moment regarding gay men giving blood is almost as discriminatory as segregating different skin colours etc.
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James, I’m confused. Are you saying they don’t ask the ‘gay questions’ yet, or that you answer the questions inaccurately or that they take the donation in spite of your answers?
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One in ten gay men in london have AIDS apparently
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James, you say, “it has been proved that heterosexual people in Guernsey are more likely to be carrying STI’s and be HIV positive”Where did you get this proof?
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errrrrrr i wouldnt want that type of blood in anyone i know. We cant spread things like this!
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Sorry my question was for Paul not James
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James, where did you find your partner? Is there a spare one going?
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Beanjar
‘And it wouldn’t work for unplanned transfusions because the blood has a shelf life of just four weeks.’
I thought the States were doing away with all those ‘best by’ labels… Won’t they just give it the sniff test from now on?
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@LS2011
No sorry.. he’s mine ! :)
@ BEANJAR
Yes they do. but i answer no..? I know my status.Been giving for 12 years now. My blood is still pure Guern.
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This is absolutely ridiculous, typical Guernsey to be so backward. One year??
The Anthony Nolan trust allows gay men in monogamous relationships to donate blood and has done for many years. Their exclusion criteria is just “[anyone who is] involved in high-risk sexual practices that may increase your exposure to sexually-transmitted diseases” – far more sensible and doesn’t automatically treat gay men as more likely to have HIV!
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I guess it all comes down to how reliable the physical screening of the donated blood is. There must be a failure rate, however small. There have been countless cases in the UK of various lab test results mixed up, told they don’t need treatment for something serious when they actually do. Then sometimes they find out the truth too late. I wouldn’t think it unreasonable to have an extra layer of protection by ruling out anybody known to be statistically ‘high risk’. The problem is nobody knowingly contracts HIV, none of us knows the precise sexual history of our partners even when we think we do. I believe many ‘happily married’ women have bisexual partners without knowing it, presumably they sail through interrogations from our MI5 trained ‘blood lady’.
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The only thing I can think is going through their naive heads is that it can take three months for HIV/AIDS to show up in a blood test.
Just for reference I don’t know this because I had to go for a second appointment after contracting an STI (shock!). Ha ha
Either way, it should be a cross platform rule if any, Heterosexual and Homosexuals should have to abstain from sex for six months…seriously though, how often does somebody pick up an infection from blood transfusions etc.?! Everything will happen to someone somewhere in the world. You can’t stop every potential bad thing happening everywhere.
At a certain point it just becomes…what’s the word?!
Futile!
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I’ve never heard anything as unscientific as relying on somebody’s word that they haven’t had sex for a year!!!! And so what if they have?
Presumably blood is routinely scanned anyway, otherwise people would be receiving contiminated transfusions left, right and centre.
What a farce.
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