Australia is banning a gay plasma donation, bisexual men in the world first

The rules that have effectively banned all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma are canceled in Australia.

The rules, originally introduced to reduce the risk of blood donations from groups with a greater chance of HIV exposure, will begin to cancel next month after such moves in the UK and the United States.

However, in the changes, Australia will become the first country in the world to eliminate all restrictions based on sexual activity for plasma donation, says the National Blood Donation Service Lifeblood.

The new rules have been approved by the regulator of the country’s health products and are estimated to expand the dates of 625,000 people.

Lifeblood Chief Medical Officer Joe Pink in a statement states that changes are an important point.

“The safety of the blood is and will always be our primary priority, but we know that these donation rules have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community … We know that they have contributed to the stigma they face (them),” she said.

Previously, all men or transsexual women who had sex with men in the previous three months were forbidden to donate blood or plasma, as well as sexual workers and women who have sex with bisexual men.

Now most people in a 6 -month sexual relationship with a partner will have the right to donate blood, regardless of their gender or sexuality.

Under the new rules, Lifebloood will no longer ask men if they had sex with men in the previous three months.

Instead, all donors will be asked if they had anal sex with new or multiple partners.

If yes, they will have to wait three months to donate blood, but they still have the right to donate plasma.

People who accept HIV prevention will also be able to donate plasma, although they are still blocked by blood donation.

The only group that still cannot donate plasma are those with HIV and those with a HIV partner.

Plasma donation rules will come into force on July 14, with the updated approach to blood donations being applied sometime in 2026.

Studies conducted by Lifeblood with the University of New South Wales University has shown that changes in the rules will have no impact on blood supply safety and plasma.

In particular, the plasma goes through a process called pathogen inactivation, which filters viruses and bacteria, significantly reduces the risk of patient infection.

The global demand for plasma is already high in high time and is still increasing, including in Australia, so Lifeblood hopes that changes will ensure so much need for supply.

“We welcome this change, which potentially unlocks thousands of donations to life-saving plasma, which is a high demand in Australian hospitals,” Health CEO Dash Heath-Paynter said in a statement.

Additional reporting from Lana Lam