Canadian Blood Services has officially asked Health Canada to drop specific restrictions on blood donations from men who have sex with men, the organization confirmed Wednesday.
Currently, men are eligible to donate blood if it’s been more than three months since their last sexual contact with a man, according to their website.
With the new guidelines, the organization wrote, “Canadian Blood Services’ goal is to stop asking men if they’ve had sex with another man and instead focus on high-risk sexual behaviour among all donors.”
One of the changes would include asking all donors about recent anal sex with new or multiple partners, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, “to precisely and reliably identify those who may have a transfusion-transmissible infection,” Canadian Blood Services said.
“We have more evidence than ever before, stemming from the MSM Research Program, international data and Canada-specific risk modelling, that indicates this change will not compromise the safety or adequacy of the blood supply,” the organization wrote. “Currently the risk of HIV being introduced to the blood system is extremely low, and according to the evidence, the proposed change will not increase that risk.”
All changes to the donation criteria must be approved by Health Canada. The department said it aims to review these submissions within 90 days, however this can vary depending on the content and completeness of the submission.
An interim measure that allowed gay men to donate plasma at some clinics was approved in September. At that time, Canadian Blood Services told Global News that this program was not intended to be permanent, as they hoped that broader permission for gay donors would soon be granted.
Canadian Blood Services first announced its intention to change donation criteria in June 2021.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had announced during the last federal election that a change was imminent on this issue.
— with files from the Canadian Press