Canadian Blood Services Wants Lifetime Ban Lifted For Gay Men

Lorna Tessier, the director of public relations at Canadian Blood Services told the Toronto Star Wednesday that federal blood donor agency believes a lifetime ban on gay men giving blood is obsolete and wants the government to amend the policy. “A lifetime ban extending by one year every year is just not sustainable,” she said. “There have been lots of changes in the environment, lots of changes in testing (and) lots of changes on the international front.” Her statement indicates a profound shift in thinking at Canadian Blood Services regarding its policy prohibiting men who have sex with men at least once since 1977 from donating blood ostensibly as a means to police the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS from blood transfusions. The policy is less about safety and more a reminder of the tainted blood scandal and it is soundly condemned as discriminatory since it in fact punishes sexual orientation and not certain sexual behaviours that present the real risk. According to Tessier, CBS continues to research the issue and is prepared to ask its regulator, Health Canada, to consider abridging the amount of time gay man must be celibate prior to donating blood. The proposed changes stems from an Ontario Supreme Court of Justice decision in September, 2010 that upheld the ban in ruling by Justice Catherine Aitken that said giving blood is not a constitutional right akin to marrying, and that there exists epidemiological evidence to support the idea that HIV and other sexually transmitted infection are more prevalent in homosexual and bisexual men. However, she added that there is insufficient evidence to support an indefinite deferral period that extends with each passing year. Tessier said “We agree with that.” She said that the agency is committed to researching what an appropriate restriction would constitute. The CBS would then formally ask Health Canada to change the policy based on their findings. While a timeline is difficult to predict, she said “We are committed. There is definitely no doubt about that.”