Gay men donated blood for the first time in their lives on Sunday as Quebec became the latest Canadian province to abolish the exclusion period for them.
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With Héma-Québec’s new “more inclusive” approach, men who have had sex with another man in the last three months are no longer deprived of the possibility of donating blood.
All donors respond to the same questionnaire to assess their eligibility, regardless of gender identity or sexuality. Rather, it is potentially risky sexual behavior that can disqualify.
” Finally “
” Finally ! “Summarized in a nutshell François Leclerc, met at the Globule center in Sainte-Foy when he had just made his first lifelong blood donation.
“I always felt rejected or excluded for not being able to,” said the 50-year-old, who had wanted to make a donation for a long time.
” But why not ? I am [dans une relation] stable, I’m not at risk, it’s been 29 years [qu’on est en couple], so let’s see! Like another couple elsewhere, ”he continues.
Her spouse Tony Bouffard would also have liked to make a donation, but an administrative complication prevented him from doing so. He will come back as soon as possible.
“Our message is [que] if the others want to come, let them not prevent themselves, let them not be afraid. We were extraordinarily welcomed here, ”says the retired nurse.
Evidence
Canadian Blood Services, which provides blood products in other provinces, adopted the same approach last September.
According to Héma-Québec spokesperson Laurent-Paul Ménard, it is the desire to go step by step and to study the evidence that explains Quebec’s view, where only plasma donation has benefited since october.
“It’s a great step forward and we are delighted. Will it have an impact on the number of people who donate? We hope so, but based on experience elsewhere, this is not necessarily the case. Maybe Quebec will be an exception,” he says, citing the case of the United Kingdom.
Well received
Remember that Health Canada gave Héma-Québec the green light last September. The regulator pointed out that from 2013 to 2019, the period of “abstinence” for homosexuals was reduced from “for life” to three months, without impacting the safety of blood donations.
“In our opinion, it should have been done several years ago. To individualize the risk, that is what is important. To stigmatize a community by presuming irresponsible sexual behavior was discrimination,” commented Dave Tremblay, president of the Quebec-based organization Alliance Arc-en-ciel.
Héma-Québec needs 1,000 donations a day to meet the blood product needs of the Quebec population.
The new approach in brief
- The same questionnaire is submitted to the donor, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation
- Risk assessment is carried out on an individual basis rather on membership of a group deemed to be at risk
- A sexually active person can donate if they have been in a monogamous relationship for more than three months or, if they have a new partner or partners, if they have not had anal sex in the last three months
- The changes were given the green light by Health Canada in September
Sources: Héma-Québec and Health Canada