The Canada it is the latest country to lift a clearly discriminatory ban. Health Canada, the government’s public health department, has lifted the ban on donating blood for homosexuals. So far they couldn’t do it if they had had sexual intercourse in the three months prior to the donation. The new legislation in force since September 30 will ensure that donors are no longer asked about sexual orientation.
The ban in Canada, as in other countries, had arrived in the 1990s. It was considered a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus HIV. For transfusions with infected blood and lack of correct analyzes, there were cases of HIV and hepatitis C. The ban was initially for life, then it was limited to homosexual intercourse in the previous five years and then to three months.
In Italy there has been no such ban for over twenty years: since 2001. The then Minister of Health Umberto Veronesi had it removed. There is no ban in Spain and Portugal. As with us, there are no categories considered at risk, but behaviors defined as such. There is a questionnaire that applies to all donors. Many associations Lgbtqi + however, they still denounce discrimination in Italy with centers that do not always allow donations to gays.
The United Kingdom he lifted the ban, which had the same three-month no-relationship rule, last year. He did it in January there France. Also in recent times, Greece, Israel, Hungary, Denmark and Brazil have done the same.
There is still this ban in Australia and the United States. The US reduced the waiting time from one year to three months just two years ago. They did so during the pandemic which led to a lack of blood supply.
The association for Lgbtqi + rights Equaldex reports 57 countries in the world that prohibit the donation of blood to men who have intercourse with other men. These include China, India, Turkey. No restrictions are reported in countries that do not even recognize homosexuality. The one-year ban remains in Sweden, Norway and Finland, but also in Belgium, Switzerland, Malta, Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:
– Orlando: blood is needed, but gays cannot donate it
– Homosexuals at risk of Covid, storm over the Ministry of Health
Source: Vanity Fair
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