Willingness to donate
The Austrian Blood Donor Ordinance currently stipulates that men who have had sex with other men in the past twelve months are banned from donating for another year. This period is to be shortened to four months in the future. The topic became present again when the willingness to donate decreased due to the pandemic. Countries like Great Britain have therefore changed their regulations. Since January 2021, homosexual men have no longer been treated differently from heterosexual ones.
The Red Cross is the largest blood donation service in Austria. It is pointed out there that the safety of blood products has top priority. “Relaxation is generally conceivable if this security and thus the high level of protection for seriously ill patients are guaranteed,” says Ursula Kreil, a transfusion specialist at the Red Cross. However, according to the Red Cross, men who have sex with men would have a significantly higher risk of HIV infection. “In Austria, more than 50 percent, i.e. every second new HIV infection, affect this group. The probability of becoming infected with HIV is therefore many times higher for this group than for the rest of society. “
Andrea Brunner from Aids Hilfe Wien, on the other hand, is certain that regulations from other countries would show that security can also be achieved without a blanket provision of groups of people who have been discriminated against as a result.
The Ministry of Health says that they have “commissioned a health impact assessment”. This deals with the health effects of changed surveys of donors. After the final report has been published, which is expected for autumn 2021, further steps are to follow: “From a technical point of view, to ensure the safety of blood and blood products, the risk of transmitting HIV and hepatitis B must also be taken into account and tested accordingly in order to avoid the risk of transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C on patients to continue to be kept low. “
The Neos and SPÖ equal treatment spokesman Mario Lindner support the initiative.
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