NHS Invites More Gay and Bisexual Men to Give Blood in New Changes to Donation Eligibility

To celebrate World Blood Donor Day on Monday, 14 June, the UK government improved the NHS blood-donation safety checklist to include gay and bisexual men. The new changes to the NHS blood-donation eligibility will be based on health, travel, and sexual behaviour. If a prospective blood donor has had the same sexual partner for the past three months they will be eligible to donate blood regardless of gender. Previously, NHS Blood and Transplant assigned a higher risk to queer men donors and it is now moving towards a more individualised assessment of donors rather than focusing on a social group or population.

"Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do," Ella Poppitt, the chief nurse for blood donation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said in a press statement. "This change is about switching around how we assess the risk of exposure to a sexual infection, so it is more tailored to the individual. . . . We are asking all blood, plasma and platelet donors to please consider the new questions alongside the existing health and travel questions before their appointment, and to re-schedule if they do not meet the changed criteria to donate right now. We want donation to be a positive experience and we are looking forward to welcoming donors as we move forward with these changes."