Blood donation: the abstinence period for MSM drops from 12 to 4 months

The Flanders Red Cross is in consultation with the Federal Minister of Public Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, about possible accompanying measures aimed at certifying blood quality. “These measures are absolutely necessary for good law enforcement and to ensure sufficiently safe blood,” says the Red Cross.

Concretely, it proposes to introduce an individual test of blood samples. The Red Cross is also calling for blood donors to be questioned in more detail before they are selected. While ensuring the protection of privacy. “Without these accompanying measures, the risk of having contaminated blood or a shortage of blood bags increases. We estimate that the relaxation of the regulations will deliver less than one percent more blood to us. On the other hand, additional questions about sexual behavior will discourage donors,” said the Flanders Red Cross.

Sensoa, the Flemish Center of Expertise for Sexual Health, understands both the demands of the Red Cross and the fear of homosexuals being stigmatized. In Belgium, the number of HIV infections among men who have sex with other men has been decreasing for some years now. But in comparison with the rest of the population, the prevalence of the number of HIV cases among homosexual men is high, notes Mark Sergeant of Sensoa.

It should be noted that in an increasing number of countries, the regulations concerning blood donation are established on the basis of sexual behavior and more on sexual orientation. In this way, the emphasis is no longer placed on the sexual orientation of the donors but on the risks that he possibly takes and which can influence the quality of his blood.

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