Germany will revise its blood donation guidelines (Representative)
Berlin:
The country’s health minister said on Tuesday that Germany would revise its guidelines on blood donation so that the same rules apply to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation.
Karl Lauterbach told RND broadcaster that official guidelines would be adjusted so that potential donors would no longer be judged differently based on their sexual orientation.
“Whether someone can become a blood donor is a question of behavioral risk, not sexual orientation,” Mr.
“There must also be no hidden discrimination in this matter,” he added.
According to current guidelines from the German Medical Association (BAK), men who have sex with men are only allowed to donate blood if they have not had “new or more than one sexual partner” within the past 4 months.
The others were assessed as to whether they were a “variable partner”.
The rules date back to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, when gay men were thought to be at higher risk of transmitting the virus.
Under the new rules, potential donors will only be evaluated “based on the individual behavior of the willing donor”, according to the RND.
The amendment to the law will go into effect on April 1, after which the BAK will have four months to issue new guidelines, the report said.
The German Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) welcomed the plans, calling them “long overdue”.
Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, a medical expert with the liberal FDP party, said previous guidelines were “not only outdated but simply discriminatory”.
“Anyone who wants to donate blood can do it. Donating blood saves lives,” she said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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