LISTEN: Change to blood donation rules in Northern Ireland welcomed

By Q Radio News team and Rebecca Black, PA

A change to blood donation rules in Northern Ireland has been welcomed.

Health Minister Robin Swann announced that a 12-month deferral period, which primarily affects sexually active gay men, has been reduced to three months.

The change to the rules brings the region in line with the rest of the UK and will come into effect on June 1 2020.

Mr Swann said he is confident that the decision will allow more people to donate while maintaining the safety of blood.

"Current blood donation rules prevent people who engage in some sexual behaviours from giving blood for a 12-month period," he said.

"Having considered the expert advice and evidence provided by the Committee for the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs, the deferral period for these people will now be reduced to three months.

"The safety of donated blood depends on two things: donor selection and the testing of blood. Every blood donation is tested for HIV and a number of other organisms. Not even the most advanced tests are 100% reliable, so it is vitally important for every donor to comply with any deferral rules that apply to them.

"I have instructed the NI Blood Transfusion Service accordingly. To allow adequate preparation time the new policy will come into effect on 1 June 2020."

Gavin Boyd, policy and advocacy manager of the LGBT charity, The Rainbow Project, welcomed the move, which follows the overturning of a lifetime ban for gay men to a one-year deferral period in Northern Ireland in 2016.

Gavin Boyd, Rainbow Project

He said, "It's a really important step forward as it brings Northern Ireland blood donation regulations into line with regulations in the other parts of the UK.

"It's not the end of the campaign, as we want to see the end of the blood ban in its entirety so people are assessed on their risk and not their sexual orientation when they want to donate blood.

"It's a really significant change in the regulations, partly because it's been so long coming. We started campaigning on this ten years ago and since then there have been numerous steps forward taken in other jurisdictions and less so in Northern Ireland."

Gavin Boyd explains the importance of the change in regulations.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said the change removes the "effective discrimination against gay men".

"The original ban and then the differential arrangements from the rest of the UK on the donation of blood by gay men constituted blatant discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and brought shame on Northern Ireland. It is welcome this discrimination will now be removed," she said.

"This is good news for the health service because the alignment of blood donation arrangements will make management of donation simpler, and in particular it is good news for the LGBT community and society as a whole, as we send a clear message discrimination against them will not be tolerated."

SDLP councillor Pete Byrne also welcomed the change to the rules.

"The minister's decision to reduce the delay to three months means that more people will be able to donate to our depleted blood supplies, while maintaining high standards," he said.

"This is personally welcome news for me. As someone who was prohibited from donating blood before I reached my 10 donation milestone, I am looking forward to finally being able to make that contribution."