Key points
- Men who have engaged in sex with another man during the last 12 months aren't currently allowed to donate blood even if they are in a long-term monogamous relationship.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the number of blood donors, and Lifeblood has repeatedly asked for assistance from Australians to maintain a steady blood availability.
- LGBTQI+ advocates are asking the TGA and Lifeblood to switch to a risk-based approach and allow gay men to donate blood.
Giampiero D'Agostino started donating blood in Italy as soon as he turned 18. For eight years, he was a regular blood donor in his homeland.
"I used to receive a text message every three months reminding me that it was time to go donate blood. Being able to help someone in need instilled in me a great sense of enthusiasm," he says.
When he moved to Australia, he wanted to continue his routine as a blood donor. But when he when to an Australian Red Cross Lifeblood collection centre, he was told that because he had had sexual contact with another man in the previous 12 months, he was unsuitable for blood donation.
Mr D’Agostino, who was in a monogamous gay relationship, says he was shocked to hear this.
"My first reaction was to think that this was nothing short of a discriminatory policy," he says. "But then, their refusal made me feel somewhat dirty - like I had done something wrong."
Gay men are currently subject to a deferral period of 12 months before they can donate blood in Australia.
“Lifeblood’s deferral policies are regularly reviewed and are underpinned by the most up-to-date clinical and scientific evidence so that Australia maintains one of the safest blood supplies in the world," a Red Cross Lifeblood spokesperson told SBS Italian.
In January 2021, this deferral period will drop to three months after the Therapeutic Goods Administration and all state and territory governments agreed to it following several representations by LGBTIQ+ organisations and advocates.
Source: Getty Images/vesnaandjic
“The three month deferral period applies to donors whose sexual practices put them at increased risk of acquiring infectious diseases that can be transmitted by blood, cells or tissues, and is based on sexual activity-based risk factors, including sex work and male-to-male sex,” a TGA spokesperson said.
However, Mr D’Agostino isn’t convinced by the rationale of applying the deferral period to him and other gay men in monogamous relationships.
"Then why was I allowed to donate blood in Italy? Does this imply that the Italian blood supply is inherently less safe?"
A risk-based approach
Dr Gianpietro Briola is the national president of AVIS, the Italian government-funded organisation that collects blood from volunteer donors. He says Italy takes a risk-based approach to blood donation.
"Italy decided to adopt a risk-based approach in 2001. This means that we do not judge the degree of safety of our blood supply on a given attribute, but on individual behaviours.”
“If someone has had sexual relationships that are considered risky, they will be banned from donating blood irrespective of their sexual orientation. But if a gay man is in a monogamous relationship, then the risk associated with their donation is exactly the same as that of a heterosexual man," he explains.
He says Australia’s approach to blood donation by gay men is “discriminatory.
"The risk lies in individual behaviours and not with someone's sexual orientation."
A risk-based approach has been adopted by several other countries, including Spain, Israel and Brazil. The latest country to adopt this approach is the UK, where this shift in policy was announced on 14 December 2020.
Dr Gianpietro Briola, National Director of AVIS explains that there is no scientific ground on which blood donations by homosexual men should be prevented Source: Courtesy of Associazioni Volontari Italiani del Sangue
The TGA says its decision is based on scientific, clinical, and epidemiological data submitted by Lifeblood, and informed by data from other countries.
“Australia and most other countries use a population-based risk assessment, while the UK and a few other countries have an individual-based risk assessment, and the approach taken by each country reflects the specific country’s blood donor selection policies and blood donation testing,” the TGA spokesperson said.
Several LGBTIQ+ groups in Australia have been advocating for a policy change. Because of their activism, the TGA has approved a reduction in the blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with another man from 12 months to three months. The new policy will come into effect in January 2021.
The three-month deferral period will apply to male donors that engage in male-to-male sex, female donors that engage in sex with a man who has ever had sex with a man, transgender donors that engage in sexual contact with a male, sex workers, sexual contact with a sex worker (male or female).
It will also apply to those who engaged in sexual contact with a resident of a country with high HIV prevalence, and someone who had sexual contact with a partner known to be infected with a blood-borne virus (HIV, HBV, HCV or HTLV).
Nick Lucchinelli, a spokesman for the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, welcomed this reform.
"The reduction from 12 months to three months is long overdue, and there are strong community calls for more people to be able to donate," Mr Lucchinelli says.
"We will keep working with Lifeblood and the TGA to ensure Australia is not needlessly excluding people from blood donation."
However, some individuals and organisations, still see the existence of a deferral period as a “clear form of discrimination”.
Just.equal co-founder Ivan Hinton-Teoh OAM and his husband Chris Hinton-Teoh. Ivan and just.equal have been advocating for a change in policy by the TGA. Source: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Ivan Hinton-Teoh OAM, the co-founder of just.equal, says despite reducing the deferral period, its continued existence is "prejudicial" to an entire cohort.
"The TGA has a responsibility to explain why they are refusing to move towards a risk-based approach," says Mr Hinton-Teoh. "This is a government agency; they should be accountable in front of the entire community, which ultimately includes us."
Mr D'Agostino hopes Australia will adopt the same risk-based approach of his homeland so that he can resume his blood-donation routine in his adopted country.
