As of March 16, there will no longer be “any reference to sexual orientation” in the questionnaires prior to donating blood, Jérôme Salomon, general director of Health, explained to the press. “Any person will constitute a donor individual.”
Since July 2016, homosexual men can theoretically donate blood, a gesture that has been prohibited since 1983 due to the risks of HIV transmission.
However, this possibility was subject to a period of sexual abstinence (first of one year, and since 2019, four months) that had to be declared during an interview prior to donation.
“The extreme vigilance of the health authorities makes possible an evolution of the conditions of access to blood donation”explained the Director General of Health, who does not expect the residual risk of HIV transmission by transfusion to increase after this measure.
A new criterion will be added to the questionnaire prior to donating blood: the donor must declare if they are taking prophylaxis treatment before or after exposure to HIV. In this case, the donation must be deferred for four months.
Several questions will seek to detect eventual individual risk behaviors (sexuality with several people, drug use …) but sexual orientation will no longer be mentioned. “These are questions that donors are used to,” Salomon said.
Before France, many countries such as Spain, Italy or Israel modified their conditions of access to blood donation in this sense.
Source From: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
