Photo: 123RF
More gay and bisexual men and takatāpui will soon be able to donate blood and plasma due to an upcoming change to donation processes.
Medsafe has approved the Blood Service's application to move towards individually assessing each donor, rather than a blanket policy making men who had sex with men in the last three months ineligible to donate due to the risk of HIV.
It follows the country's most comprehensive study on blood donation and HIV prevention, SPOTS, which revealed individualised assessments would not compromise the safety and quality of donor blood.
The Blood Service's chief medical officer Dr Sarah Morley said the new assessments would ask the same questions of every donor - irrespective of gender, sex or sexual orientation - to assess potential risks for sexually transmitted infections.
But before the change is implemented, the testing regime must be updated to align with global best practice, she said.
"These additional testing requirements will complement the individualised risk assessment change, and will help ensure the safety of our plasma products.
"We know this change has been a long time coming, so we want to thank people for their continued patience," said Morley.
The new assessments would likely be introduced early next year, she said.
"We are committed to change, and we look forward to soon welcoming more gay, bisexual, takatāpui and other men who have sex with men into our whānau of lifesavers."
The change would mean about three times more gay and bisexual men and takatāpui could donate blood in future, said University of Auckland associate professor Peter Saxton, who lead the SPOTS study.
University of Auckland's Dr Peter Saxton. Photo: RNZ / Jake McKee
"SPOTS data shows that four out of five gay and bisexual men in NZ wanted to donate blood if the rules were changed and they were allowed to donate," he said.
"Importantly, our data suggest this would be safe for blood recipients. We found no participants with confirmed undiagnosed HIV."
The Blood Service had wanted to modernise but until now lacked local evidence to strengthen their case, he said.
"Therefore, we are delighted that SPOTS participants are helping improve NZ's blood donor policy."
LGBTQIA+ advocate Shaneel Lal said the rule changes were a "fantastic" move that reflected international best practice and local evidence proving it was safe.
They advocated for the change for half a decade, since their time studying at the University of Auckland.
"One day I was walking by the library and I saw on the ground with chalk was written 'donate blood today' and that you could save up to three lives if you donated blood.
"I thought to myself, yeah I would, if I weren't so gay."
There were many caring gay and bisexual men willing to donate blood and help save lives, Lal said.
"I found that the plea to save lives from an organisation that at the time, insisted on homophobic blood donation policies, inappropriate and offensive."
Assessing risk based on potential donors' behaviour rather than gender and sexuality was safe and fair, they said.
In 2021, the UK changed its rules so everyone who goes to donate blood (not just men who have sex with men) was asked if they had anal intercourse with more than one partner or with a new partner in the past three months. If they have, they cannot donate.
Canada's policy is very similar, but has fewer restrictions than the UK.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
