This petition was submitted during the 2015–2017 Conservative government
Rejected petition Remove deferrals for MSMs in favour of sexual risk screening in blood donation.
Men who have had sex with other men in the past year are prohibited from donating blood. Not only is this discriminatory, it is not evidentially based, nor are much higher risk people prevented from doing so. It is the vestige of hatred and fear about HIV and AIDS directed towards gay/bisexual men.
More details
The NHS states that there have been no recorded cases of HIV transmission by blood transfusion since 2005 - the ban on MSM blood donation was softened to a one year deferral in 2011. Due to effective safe-sex education and community fear about infection, MSMs are practicing safe sex more than ever, while the sexual practices and history of others are not questioned; this ban should be removed in favour of evaluating the sexual risk of all donors. It is discriminatory and punishes the NHS. It is also indefensible to both ban donations and to refuse to prescribe PrEP to help combat HIV infection rates among MSMs.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-transfusion/Pages/Risks.aspx
This petition was rejected
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https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/123210
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