Last month, Australia’s national donation service, Lifeblood, removed previous waiting periods for plasma donations based on sexual activity, allowing gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and sex workers to contribute for the first time in decades.
The service plans to extend eligibility to whole-blood donations next year. Under the proposed system, all donors — regardless of gender or sexuality — will be asked the same sexual activity questions.
Most people in a relationship of six months or more with a single partner will be eligible, as will those with new or multiple partners if they have not had anal sex in the past three months.
Community welcomes with a note of caution
The advocacy group Let Us Give has welcomed the expanded eligibility but is raising concerns about Lifeblood’s planned questionnaire for whole-blood donors, describing it as “confusing” and “not best practice.”
In a letter to national, state, and territory health ministers, the group outlined Lifeblood’s proposed three-step questions:
- In the last six months, have you had sex with more than one person? (If “no,” eligible to donate)
- If “yes,” have you had new or multiple partners in the last three months? (If “no,” eligible)
- If “yes,” have you had anal sex with new or multiple partners in the last three months? (If “no,” eligible)
By comparison, countries such as Canada, the UK, and the US use a simpler two-question model focusing solely on new or multiple partners in the last three months and whether anal sex occurred during that period.
Researcher Dr Sharon Dane said, “The six-month question is unnecessary because new HIV infections show up on tests much sooner. It’s also confusing when there’s already a three-month window, and it may deter safe donors.”
Risk of indirect discrimination
Let Us Give spokesperson Rodney Croome has urged health ministers to review Lifeblood’s clinical reasoning for the proposed rules, warning they could unintentionally perpetuate bias.
“We fear the proposed question is a form of indirect discrimination,” Croome said. “The message will be that Lifeblood still sees gay and bisexual men and trans women as sexual risk takers and our blood as inherently unsafe.”
While the removal of the decades-old plasma donation ban marks a milestone, advocates say the next step is ensuring the new policies are both fair and medically sound before whole-blood donations open to the broader community next year.
