On Thursday, Health Canada approved a proposal by Canadian Blood Services to end the three-month deferral period for gay and bisexual donors, as well as some others in the LGBTQ2S + community.
Moving away from the total ban, the national blood donor organization will be able to screen all donors, regardless of gender or sexuality. Instead, donors will be screened based on their sexual behavior.
The Canadian Blood Services (CBS) is expected to introduce the new approach to the behavior-based questionnaire by September 30. It will be used for both blood donation and plasma.
This will mean that when donors are screened before rolling up their sleeves, they will be asked if they have recently had anal sex in the context of new or multiple sexual partners over a period of time.
“Sexual behavior, not sexual orientation, determines the risk of sexual transmission of blood pathogens,” said Dr. Isra Levy, vice president of medical affairs for the Canadian Blood Service, at the organization’s last board meeting on December 3, just before the organization that submitted the request to change its policy.
It took the agency more than 90 days to complete the review of Canadian blood services to make that change, but Health Canada said their permission was “based on an in-depth assessment of the evidence supporting the safety of revised donor screening.” .
POLICY HAS BEEN DEVELOPING OVER THE YEARS
The policy began in 1992 as a total life ban after the tainted blood scandal that took place between the 1980s and 1990s, and saw thousands of Canadians infected with HIV after receiving blood from a donor. During the scandal, the Canadian Red Cross – the forerunner of Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec – failed to test and screen donors, leading to thousands of Canadians exposed to HIV through contaminated blood products.
Over the almost three decades since then, policy has gradually eased, beginning with a change in 2013 that reduced the life ban to a five-year postponement. This meant that instead of flatly refusing donations from men who had sex with men, or from the MSM community, as some imagine, donations would only be accepted if the donor had not been sexually active for five years.
In 2016, the five-year deferral period was reduced to one year, and then in June 2019 the current quarterly deferral period came into force. This means that the Canadian Blood Services prohibits gay and bisexual men who have sex with men, as well as some trans people who have sex with men, from donating blood unless they have abstained for three months.
Earlier this year, a pilot project was approved to donate plasma to centers in Calgary and London, Ontario, provided donors have not had a new sexual partner or their partner has not had sex with another partner in the past three months.
Policy developments over the past few years have resulted from the approval of Health Canada regulatory statements that include risk modeling showing that it would be safe to do so.
As part of this review, Health Canada convened a team of medical and scientific experts in the field of blood safety to provide advice on change.
“Today’s authorization is an important step towards a more inclusive blood donation system across the country and is based on advances in scientific evidence in recent years,” a statement from Health Canada said.
As CTVNews.ca reported earlier, amid questions about why the policy is slow, Health Canada “requires” two-year intervals between when donor screening criteria can be updated to monitor the potential impact on blood safety. from the updated donor screening criteria, by documents.
As has been the case for some time, every blood donation in Canada is tested for HIV. Under current testing options, HIV can be detected in a “window period” of approximately nine days after infection.
Relieving the time during which affected donors must abstain, as it has not led to an increased risk of communicable disease in the past, according to Canadian Blood Services.
Canadian Blood Services donates blood in all provinces and territories other than Quebec, which is run by Hema-Quebec. This agency did not participate in this submission, but has already received approval to move to a more inclusive screening process for plasma donations.
RELEASES REMOVAL OF “DISCRIMINATORY” PROHIBITION
Canadian Blood Services consults with stakeholders, including the LGBTQ2S + community and patient groups, during this process. For years, LGBTQ2S + advocates and those banned from donating have expressed disappointment, saying the policy is discriminatory and not based on science.
In response to the news, the Center for Community Research (CBRC), which has long urged all participants to change their screening policy, said it was pleased that Canada was “finally catching up with other countries”, but that more needed to be done. work to dispel the stereotypes and misconceptions that this ban has perpetuated.
“Health Canada’s initial policy was discriminatory and encouraged stigma and ignorance about the health of strange men and trans people. It is also undermining Canada’s blood supply, which may be precariously low, “said CBRC Acting Executive Director Michael Quag in a statement.
The federal government has been criticized for years, including by LGBTQ2S + opposition lawmakers, for failing to keep its long-term promise to lift the ban. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also been criticized for making repeated promises in recent years that a change in policy is inevitable.
Key cabinet ministers over the years have rejected calls for a change in Canadian blood system rules unilaterally, saying the agency has a “limited role” to intervene and that Canadian blood services must demand a change in policy.
Liberals funded research projects that focused on supporting an evidence-based decision-making process, including studying donor eligibility criteria and alternative screening processes. CBS said that this evidence, risk modeling based on data from the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as international studies informed their performance for 2021.
The Prime Minister will speak about the upcoming policy change at a press conference on Parliament Hill on Thursday afternoon, where he will be accompanied by some LGBTQ2S + members from his caucus.
In a statement, NDP critic and 2SLGBTQI + deputy critic Randall Garrison and Blake Dejarle called the news “a long-awaited victory for men who have sex with men, community members and allies who have worked tirelessly for years to make the government to act. “
“Proponents of this discriminatory policy have been working to lift the ban for years. They should be commended for their continued, effective advocacy and tireless efforts. Without them, the government would not have moved forward this important change,” NDP lawmakers said. after it enters into force.
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