Although pressure
is growing in the United States to end the lifetime ban
on blood donations by gay men, two prominent groups north of
the border have come out against such a change in
Canada. Both the Canadian Blood Services, which
oversees the nation's blood supply, and the Canadian
Hemophilia Society prefer to maintain the current ban
preventing blood donations by any man who has had sex
with another man since 1976, reports the Vancouver
newspaper
The Province
.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is
considering whether to change the lifetime ban to
allow gay men who have not had sex in the last 12
months to donate blood. But David Page, spokesperson for the
Canadian Hemophilia Society, said that time period is
not sufficient. "A one-year ban is not enough," he
told
The Province
. "The information we have now
is [such a change] would increase the health risk, not
of HIV but of either unknown or emerging viruses."
A spokesperson for the Canadian Blood Services
agreed, saying that the high rate of HIV among gay men
requires the agency to "stay the course" for the
moment. He added, however, that the agency is
currently conducting a risk assessment on the consequences
of any change to the ban. (
The Advocate
)
