Canada Lifts Blood Donation Restrictions on Gay and Bisexual Men
imposed in 1992. In 2013, the lifetime ban was reduced to a five-year deferral period for MSM, then to a 1-year deferral period in 2016 and to a three-month deferral period in 2019, reports United Press International.Going forward, Canadian Blood Service, a nonprofit charitable organization that provides blood and blood products to Canadian health care systems, will introduce give all donors, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, a questionnaire to fill out to determine whether they have engaged in sexual behaviors that place them at higher risk of blood-borne diseases, which determine whether they should be deferred from donating for an additional amount of time.In a statement authorizing the country’s chief two blood operators — Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec — to change the eligibility criteria for donors, Health Canada called the development “a significant milestone toward a more inclusive blood donation system nationwide, and builds on progress in scientific evidence made in recent years.”Starting on Sept.