Regulations On Blood Donation By Men Who Have Had Sex With Men

EDM number 334 in 2014-15, proposed by Caroline Lucas on 10/09/2014.
Categorised under the topics of Diseases, Equality, Health services and Sex discrimination.

That this House notes that whilst the blanket ban on gay and bisexual men giving blood has lifted, there remains a 12-month deferral on men who have had sex with men donating blood; is aware that the rationale for the deferral for men who have had sex with men, put in place in 2011 following the lifting of the lifetime ban, related to the level of risk of contracting hepatitis B and the length of time needed for the hepatitis B screening process; further notes that, for NHS blood donation practice to be lawful and non-discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010, it has to be based on up-to-date evidence; believes that the uptake of the hepatitis B vaccine amongst groups considered to be at higher risk should be regularly assessed along with other evidence relevant to risk behaviours, screening and safe transfusion; further believes there is both a moral obligation to ensure that people receiving blood donations are not put at unnecessary risk and also that donors are not unfairly discriminated against; further notes it is over three years since the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs Donor Selection Criteria Review of May 2011; and therefore calls on Public Health England to conduct an urgent review of the evidence available since 2011 on allowing people to donate safe blood to the Health Service to ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

This motion has been signed by a total of 9 MPs.