Héma-Québec announces that starting next fall, plasma donation will become more inclusive in Québec, as more men who have sex with men will be able to donate plasma.
The organization adds that this decision by Health Canada will not affect safety for plasma recipients.
Héma-Québec will abandon the current three-month plasma donation exclusion period for all men who have sex with men and who are sexually active. Eligibility for plasma donation will thus be based on an individualized assessment of risky behaviors, rather than on whether the person belongs to a group considered to be at risk.
The new approach means that anyone who comes in to donate plasma will be asked if they have had sex and, if so, what their recent sexual behaviors have been. Men who have had the same sexual partner in the past three months may qualify for donation, provided they comply with the other selection criteria.
To follow for blood and platelet donations
To explain that this announcement only concerns plasma donation for the moment, Héma-Québec points out that the transformation of plasma intended for the manufacture of drugs involves additional safety measures, which are not found for blood donations. and platelets. Héma-Québec points out that the new approach will make it possible to collect conclusive data which will be used, in a second phase, to extend the measure to blood and platelet donations.
In Héma-Québec’s opinion, this two-step approach has a greater level of acceptability for regulatory authorities and groups of blood product recipients.
The policy of deferring men who have recently had sex with men from donating blood or plasma was implemented in 1992 after thousands of Canadians were infected with HIV and hepatitis C by contaminated blood products.
Donor eligibility criteria have since changed.
In 2019, Health Canada approved requests from Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec to reduce the period during which men must abstain from sexual activity with other men before donating blood.
The one-year disqualification was then increased to three months.