Last Tuesday, the Ministry of Health announced that blood donation will be open to gay or bisexual men without conditions. This ministerial decree was signed on Wednesday January 12 and should enter into force during the month of March 2022.
This decree puts an end to discrimination
« We put an end to an inequality that was no longer justified “, Said Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, in a tweet. This decision was indeed taken by the government with the aim of putting an end to discrimination. Thus, the questionnaires prior to blood donation will no longer make any reference to the donor’s sexual orientation from March 16, 2022.
In 1983, gay men could not donate blood because of the risk of transmitting AIDS. This has changed since 2016, with the introduction of article 1211-6-1 in the Public Health Code. The article in question states that no one can be excluded from donating blood because of their sexual orientation.
However, gay men were required to go through a period of sexual abstinence before being eligible to donate blood. This period was set at twelve months, before being reduced to four months in 2019.
No more reference to sexual orientation in the questionnaires
Today, the risk of transmitting AIDS by transfusion has considerably decreased compared to the beginning of the 1990s. has no new estimates of this risk. The latter indicates that it is thus necessary to add other questions on the sexual practices of donors in the questionnaires in order to guarantee the safety of the recipients.
According to the Ministry of Health, a new criterion will be added to the questionnaire. The donor, whether heterosexual or homosexual, should indicate whether he is taking treatment for pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV. In addition, other questions will be added in order to detect possible individual risky behavior, but sexual orientation will no longer be mentioned.