Phased changes to blood donation rules for men who have sex with men announced

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced a phased change to the rules around blood donation for men who have sex with men (MSM).

As reported in the Irish Examiner, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has had a one-year deferral for MSM in order for them to donate blood since 2017.

According to Mr Donnelly, the new rule changes will be introduced in two phases from March.

He tweeted: "We are introducing changes to our deferral policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). The changes will be introduced in two phases with the initial phase being introduced by the end of March 2022 and the second phase being introduced later in 2022.

"The initial phase will reduce the existing 12-month deferral for MSM to four months. This is an interim measure while the Irish Blood Transfusion Service introduces new technology, to replace the existing paper health and lifestyle questionnaire (HLQ).

"This is an important step and follows a report to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board by an independent advisory group chaired by Professor Mary Horgan. A progressive move that I hope will be widely welcomed."

We are introducing changes to our deferral policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). The changes will be introduced in two phases with the initial phase being introduced by the end of March 2022 and the second phase being introduced later in 2022.

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) December 22, 2021

Some 400 units of blood are being imported into the State this week due to a supply shortage which will be the second time this year.

Blood is being imported from the UK’s NHS Blood and Transplant unit where MSM can donate blood despite existing rules in Ireland.

The IBTS recently stated there was a major shortage in supply of some blood types due to clinic cancellations during Storm Barra.

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IBTS needs to collect 12,000 donations before and during Christmas – we really need O- B- and A- right now! Some clinics were cancelled because of Storm Barra & many of our reg donors are unavailable because of illness. #GiveBlood Find your local clinichttps://t.co/m6mDkQz3e1 pic.twitter.com/Jo3yCbWfjf

— Giveblood (@Giveblood_ie) December 14, 2021

As well as adverse weather, Covid-19 has also had a significant impact on blood donations, with more blood being issued to hospitals than being collected.