Isn’t it discrimination to have a different rule for gay men from heterosexuals or lesbians?
The different rule for gay men, or rather for any man who has had sex with another man in the last year, is not based on homophobia - if it was, other LGBT people would also be barred. It is based on the incontrovertible evidence that men who have sex with men in the UK are at far greater risk than any other population, per sexual encounter, of acquiring a variety of infections such as syphilis, hepatitis B and C and, most of all, HIV.
Terrence Higgins Trust would like to see the same regulations for all - but we will only get those regulations when we have managed to reduce the risks of sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission during gay sex to the same level as that faced by most heterosexuals.
A range of other deferral times exist for injecting drug users, people who have been paid for sex and for people who have had sex in some areas of the world where HIV and other blood-borne infections are more prevalent. Again, this is based on activities that may have put them at risk. However, not all these groups were included in the review and we would like to see all group deferrals examined in the same way that this recent review has been conducted.
The Blood Service has to look at the balance of probabilities and assess statistical risk. They have a quantity of blood they need to collect and seek to take that blood from people who are at the lowest possible risk of having HIV or other blood-borne infections. They aim to reduce the risk as far as possible for people receiving that blood based on the best evidence available to them. They do not claim to be able to entirely eliminate the risk of HIV infected blood entering their supplies but the exclusions they have put in place aim to significantly decrease that risk. Since 1985, four people have been infected with HIV in the UK through blood transfusions or products despite the current precautions.