The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) has confirmed that gay people are still not permitted to donate blood — this after it agreed to a study of the South African gay population during a meeting held with gay and lesbian organisations last week.
”Until such data is available which can enable SANBS to review its policy, the status quo will remain,” an SANBS statement said on Tuesday.
”The way forward is to approach independent experts in the fields of epidemiology, statistics and medical research who can devise a scientific study that is expected to provide relevant local data, which [the] SANBS can use in its decision-making process,” said the statement.
Gay and lesbians organisations were outraged when the SANBS issued a statement in January this year asking gay people not to donate blood. The SANBS does not allow gay people to donate blood if they have had sex in the past five years — irrespective of whether they are HIV-positive.
Ianthe Exall, spokesperson for the SANBS, told the Mail & Guardian Online that the organisation is following international policy by not allowing gay people to donate blood.
An independent body of researchers is expected to be set up within a month to gather statistics on South Africa’s gay and lesbian population, as well as findings of similar studies that have been done in the past. If ”no evidence” is found, the body will be commissioned to do its own research, said Exall.
Dawie Nel, director of gay and lesbian organisation OUT in Pretoria, told the M&G Online that he welcomed the outcome of the meeting last week.
He feels the criteria of the SANBS on its blood questionnaire should be based on ”scientific evidence” and that the service should not take international findings and apply them to South Africa.
”Men who have sex with men significantly are at a higher risk compared to any other group”, but the focus of the SANBS ”should not focus on particular groups, but rather on the high-risk behavioural practices of both gay and heterosexual groups”, said Nel.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said in January this year that gay men should not be excluded from donating blood on the basis of their identity or HIV status, but rather on the basis of epidemiological data or research — which, according to the SAHRC, does not ”convincingly exist in South Africa”.
The commission also suggested in the past that the SANBS, the Medical Research Council and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research probe the applicability in South Africa of international findings that homosexuals are a high-risk group.