Rejected petition Bring an end to blood donation deferrals for MSM (men who have sex with men)

Potential blood donors in the UK are turned away if they are men who have had sex with another man within the last 12 months. This significantly reduces the number of potential donors. This discriminatory policy targets MSM rather than taking into account patterns of sexual behaviour.

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Although all blood is tested, MSM are excluded on account of a higher statistical rate of infections, and imperfect blood testing. This is a highly simplistic policy, as it groups all MSM into one catch-all category. A better policy would be to ask questions about patterns of sexual activity regardless of gender. Blood supplies are limited as it is, and monogamous same-sex couples are of no risk.

Blood donation by MSM without deferral is already permitted in Argentina, Russia, Italy etc.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170131

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 10 February 2017
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