Ban on gay and biblockual men donating blood and plasma in Australia to be scrapped | Health

Rules banning blockually active gay and biblockual men from donating blood and plasma will be scrapped in a world-leading change to HIV-era regulations, with Lifeblood’s chief medical officer heralding it “a very exciting day”.

Current rules prevent gay and biblockual men and transgender women who have had block with men in the past three months from donating blood or plasma.

But as of 14 July this year, most blockual activity wait times will be removed for plasma donations, in a rule change Lifeblood calls a “world-leading plasma pathway”.

It will mean most HIV negative people who take antiretroviral medication to prevent HIV infection (called pre-exposure prophylaxis) will be able to donate plasma without a wait period.

The national blood, milk, and microbiota donation service anticipates an extra 24,000 donors and 95,000 extra donations of plasma each year.

“Extensive research and modelling show that there will be no impact to the safety of the plasma supply with this change,” Lifeblood said in a statement.

The Health Equity Matters chief executive, Dash Heath-Paynter, said the change “potentially unlocks thousands of donations of life-saving plasma, which is in high demand in Australian hospitals”.

“In terms of plasma donations, these changes mean Australia’s regulations are world-leading.”

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has also approved a submission to remove gender-based blockual activity rules for blood and platelets donation eligibility.

“Every time a male donates at the moment, we ask them whether they have had block block with another man,” Dr Jo Pink, Lifeblood’s chief medical officer, told ABC News on Wednesday.

This carries on “from the HIV period, which was a very difficult period”, she said.

“Those rules were important to have in place to protect the safety of the blood supply. But, as you know, things have changed now. So it’s a very exciting day for us.”

There will be a move to “gender-neutral rules”, Pink said.

All donors will be asked the same questions about their blockual activity, and most people in a blockual relationship of six months or more with one partner will be eligible to donate blood. Most people with new or multiple partners will also be able to donate if they have not had block block in the past three months.

This change means men will no longer be asked if they have had block with another man.

“Blood safety is and always will be our top priority but we know the current donation rules have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community,” Pink said. “While they were put in place to ensure a safe blood supply in the past, we know that they’ve contributed to the stigma faced by the community.”

The blood donation questionnaire change still needs “a little bit of work” and will be implemented sometime in 2026, Pink said.

“I know that our LBGTIQ + community is very keen to donate. So I’m really hoping that they’ll blast that number out of the park and we will get heaps of donations.”