Gay men in
Thailand will now be able to donate blood, the Red Cross of
Thailand announced on Friday.
Gay men in
Thailand will now be able to donate blood, the Red Cross of
Thailand announced on Friday. Gay rights activists had
complained about the screening process, which
essentially barred gay men from donating blood, solely
because of their sexual orientation, for fear of
contaminating the blood supply with HIV, according to Agence
France-Presse.
"We didn't mean
to hurt anyone," Soisaang Pikulsod, director of the
Thai Red Cross National Blood Center, said in the article.
"It was just to ensure the highest possible safety of
our patients."
The Red Cross is
reworking the form to include questions about risky
sexual behavior and drug abuse rather than sexual
orientation.
In Thailand, a
predominantly Buddhist country, donating blood is an
important way of earning religious merit, which Buddhists
believe will help them in their next life, according
to the report.
In 2007, it was
found that 500 Thai blood donors had HIV and that about
half of those donors were gay or bisexual men. The U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported
that 28% of gay men in Bangkok, the capital of
Thailand, are HIV-positive. (The Advocate)
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