France allows gays to donate blood

Blood donation

France has recently made it easier for gay men to donate blood – but only slightly. Previously, France had a lifelong ban on blood donation for any man who had ever had sex with another man. Now, they have introduced a deferred period of 12 months which essentially means that you may only donate blood if you have avoided having sex in the previous 12 months. Although I am glad there is change, I don’t think this is good enough.

 

Blood donation

 

France has stated that if the new change does not introduce additional risk to the blood donation system, they will further ease the policy to be in line with heterosexuals. Heterosexuals may not donate blood if they have had sex with more than 1 partner in the preceding 4 months. It may take France a further year to make the additional change.

 

Donating blood in South Africa

As I wrote in “Ban on gay blood donation lifted“, South Africa removed the prejudice from it’s blood donation policy in May 2014, allowing gay men to donate blood as long as they have not had sex with a new partner, or multiple partners in the last 6 months – the same restriction as heterosexuals.

 

Gay blood donation in the rest of the World

Here is how restrictions in the rest of the world look. Deferral period refers to the time period between a man having sex with a man and that man being allowed to donate blood.

  • No deferral = good
  • 1 year deferral = OK, but could improve
  • Indefinite = very bad (i.e. no donation allowed)

 

CountryDeferral for MSM
 AlgeriaIndefinite
 ArgentinaNo deferral
 Australia1 year
 AustriaIndefinite
 BelgiumIndefinite
 BhutanNo deferral
 Brazil1 year
 BulgariaNo deferral
 Canada5 years
 ChileNo deferral
 ChinaIndefinite
 ColombiaNo deferral
 Costa RicaIndefinite
 CroatiaIndefinite
 Czech Republic1 year
 DenmarkIndefinite
 EstoniaIndefinite
 Finland1 year
 France1 year (from 2016)
 GermanyIndefinite
 GreeceIndefinite
 Hong KongIndefinite
 Hungary1 year
 IcelandIndefinite
 IndiaIndefinite
 IrelandIndefinite
 IsraelIndefinite
 ItalyNo deferral
 Japan1 year
 LatviaNo deferral
 LithuaniaIndefinite
 MaltaIndefinite
 MexicoNo deferral
 Netherlands1 year
 New Zealand1 year
 Northern IrelandIndefinite
 NorwayIndefinite
 PeruNo deferral
 PhilippinesIndefinite
 PolandNo deferral
 PortugalNo deferral
 RussiaNo deferral
 Serbia1 year
 South AfricaNo deferral
 South KoreaNo deferral
 Slovakia1 year
 SloveniaIndefinite
 SpainNo deferral
 Sweden1 year
  SwitzerlandIndefinite
 ThailandNo deferral
 TurkeyIndefinite
 United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland)1 year
 United StatesIndefinite
 UruguayNo deferral
 VenezuelaIndefinite

Source: Wikipedia

 

>> Do you donate blood? Let us know how it makes you feel to donate blood as a gay man. Comment below.

 

Share your thoughts on the above post!

Latest Posts

Your voice creates change, one story at a time

We invite you to share your journey with us, whether it’s about coming out, navigating homophobia, or finding acceptance. Your story matters, and it has the potential to make a profound impact on someone else’s life.