Red Cross ends donation ban on sexually active gay and bisexual men

Current Red Cross donor rules prevent gay and bisexual men from giving blood or plasma if they have had sex in the past three months.

The rule was designed to prohibit people at higher risk of exposure to HIV from donating.

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But the Red Cross said on June 18 that extensive research and modelling show that there will be no impact on the safety of the plasma supply with this change.

Lifeblood's chief medical officer, Dr Jo Pink, said they were "excited to welcome more people from across the community" into donor centres.

"With more than 600,0000 people estimated to be covered by the previous wait times, we now anticipate an extra 24,000 donors and 95,000 extra donations of plasma to be made each year," she said.

Dr Pink said the safety and well-being of patients who receive blood and plasma would always be foremost in decision-making.

"Our submission to change rules for blood donation included data that shows, for now, a six-month wait is the safest option for Australian patients, but we are committed to reviewing this as more evidence becomes available," she said.

"There are many steps that Lifeblood needs to take before we can implement the new gender-neutral assessments, including working with state and territory governments to change the donor questionnaire.

Dr Pink said they hoped to implement changes to gender-neutral assessments next year.