Greece lifts decades-long ban on homosexual and bisexual males donating blood

Greece has lifted its decades-long ban on homosexual and bisexual males donating blood.

On Jan. 10, Well being Minister Thanos Plevris and his deputy Mina Gaga signed a ministerial decree instituting the coverage change, which brings in a brand new kind for individuals to finish once they wish to donate blood. The brand new kind has eliminated gay intercourse acts from the listing of issues prohibiting individuals from giving blood.

The transfer brings to an finish a ban on homosexual and bisexual males donating blood which has been in place since 1977. The earlier kind for potential donors acknowledged that any man who has intercourse with different males isn’t allowed to present blood.

LGBTQ rights activists praised the transfer, however expressed the view that the Greek authorities has performed the naked minimal.

Irene Petropoulou, chairperson of ΟΛΚΕ, an LGBTQ rights organisation, advised PinkNews: “After all, it’s nice information, and we hope the federal government pays extra consideration to different discriminations within the healthcare system and in schooling.” Petropoulou added that “homosexual and bisexual males are free now to present blood with out pretending they’re straight males.”

In December 2020, the UK eased blood donation guidelines for homosexual and bisexual males. The brand new guidelines imply that homosexual and bisexual males in long-term relationships are in a position to donate blood, whereas beforehand homosexual and bisexual males weren’t allowed to donate blood except they stopped having intercourse with males for 3 months — generally known as the deferral interval. Now each blood donor – no matter gender or sexuality – has to finish the identical well being examine previous to donation and homosexual and bisexual males are not requested to reveal their sexuality or whether or not they’ve had intercourse with one other man when donating.

Many nations nonetheless have blanket bans on homosexual and bi males donating blood, lots of which date again to the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the 1980s.

Within the U.S., the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) modified the foundations on blood donation in 2015, requiring males to abstain from intercourse with different males for at the least a 12 months earlier than donating blood. In 2020, the FDA issued new guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic lowering the deferral interval to 3 months.