blood donation restrictions on men who have sex with men blood donation restrictions on men who have sex with men many countries have laws, regulations, or recommendations that effectively prohibit donations of blood or tissue for organ and corneal transplants from men who have sex with men (msm), a classification irrespective of their sexual activities with same-sex partners and of whether they identify themselves as bisexual or gay. temporary restrictions are sometimes called "deferrals", since blood donors who are found ineligible may be found eligible at a later date. however, many deferrals are indefinite meaning that donations are not accepted at any point in the future, constituting a de facto ban. even men who have monogamous relations with their same-sex partners are found ineligible. part of a series ondiscrimination forms institutional structural attributes age disability genetics hair color hair texture height looks size language race / ethnicity nordicism skin color rank caste class religion sex sexual orientation social acephobia arophobia adultism anti-albinism anti-autism anti-drug addicts anti-homelessness anti-intellectualism anti-intersex anti-left handedness anti-masonry aporophobia audism biphobia cronyism elitism ephebiphobia fatphobia gayphobia gerontophobia heterosexism hiv/aids stigma homophobia leprosy stigma lesbophobia misandry misogyny nepotism pedophobia perpetual foreigner pregnancy sectarianism supremacism black white transphobia non-binary transmisogyny trans men vegaphobia xenophobia religious ahmadiyya atheism baháʼí faith buddhism catholicism christianity post–cold war era druze falun gong hinduism persecution untouchability islam persecution jehovah's witnesses judaism persecution lds or mormon neopaganism non-muslims eastern orthodox oriental orthodox copts protestantism rastafari sikhs shi'ism sufism sunnism zoroastrianism ethnic/national african afghan albanian american arab armenian australian austrian azerbaijani bosnian brazilian british canadian catalan chechen chilean chinese croat english filipino finnish french fulani georgian german greek haitian hazara hispanic hungarian igbo indian canadian and us indigenous peoples indonesian iranian irish israeli italian japanese jewish khmer korean kurdish malay mexican middle eastern mongolian montenegrin muhajirs pakistani palestinian pashtun polish quebec romani romanian russian scottish serb slavic somali tatar thai tibetan turkish ukrainian uyghur venezuelan vietnamese manifestations blood libel bullying online lgbt compulsory sterilization corrective rape counter-jihad cultural genocide defamation democide disability hate crime dog-whistle politics eliminationism economic education employment ethnic cleansing ethnic conflict ethnic hatred ethnic joke ethnocide forced conversion freak show gay bashing gendercide genital modification and mutilation genocide examples glass ceiling hate crime lgbt hate group hate speech online homeless dumping housing indian rolling infantilization language minoritization lavender scare lynching mortgage murder music native american mascots occupational segregation opposition to immigration persecution pogrom purge red scare religious persecution religious terrorism religious violence religious war scapegoating segregation academy sex-selective abortion slavery slut-shaming violence against transgender people victimisation violence against men violence against women white flight white genocide conspiracy theory white power music wife selling witch-hunt policies age of candidacy babel proclamation blood purity blood quantum citizen, speak turkish! crime of apartheid dialect card disabilities catholic jewish environmental racism ethnocracy ethnopluralism gender pay gap gerontocracy gerrymandering ghetto benches internment jewish quota jim crow laws ketuanan melayu article 153 kinder der landstrasse law for protection of the nation mccarthyism msm blood donation restrictions nonpersons numerus clausus (as religious or racial quota) nuremberg laws one-drop rule racial quota racial steering redlining same-sex marriage (laws and issues prohibiting) segregation age racial religious sexual sodomy law state atheism state religion symbole ugly law vergonha voter suppression welsh not white australia policy countermeasures affirmative action anti-discrimination law cultural assimilation cultural pluralism diversity training empowerment environmental justice feminism fighting discrimination hate speech laws by country human rights intersex rights lgbt rights masculism multiculturalism nonviolence racial integration reappropriation self-determination social integration toleration related topics bias dehumanization go back to where you came from oppression internalized power distance prejudice reverse discrimination social exclusion social stigma stereotype threat civil liberties diversity intersectionality multiculturalism polyculturalism political correctness white privilege racial bias in criminal news (us) racism by country reverse racism the talk (us) woke (us) amatonormativity gender roles heteronormativity male privilege masculism second-generation gender bias medical model of disability autism neurodiversity social model of disability allophilia ethnic penalty oikophobia christian privilege religious intolerance eugenics net bias snobbery speciesism police brutality prisoner abuse since 1982, the risk for hiv infection transmitted via transfusion has been almost eliminated by the use of questionnaires to exclude donors at higher risk for hiv infection and performing screening tests with highly sensitive equipment to identify infected blood donations. according to the 2015 surveillance report by canadian blood services, the risk of hiv transfusion-transmitted infection was fairly low: in 1 in 21.4 million donations. contaminated blood put haemophiliacs at massive risk and severe mortality, increasing the risk of common surgical procedures. people who contracted hiv from a contaminated blood transfusion include isaac asimov, who received a blood transfusion following cardiac surgery. hiv/aids in many high-income countries hiv is more prevalent among men who have sex with men (msm) than among the general population. in the united states the population most affected by hiv includes gay, bisexual, and other msm. of the 38,739 new hiv diagnoses in the us and dependent areas in 2017, 70% consisted of adult and adolescent gay and bisexual men. although approximately 492,000 sexually active gay and bisexual men are at high risk for hiv, there are more tools to prevent hiv than ever before. proponents of the lifetime restriction defend it because of the asserted risk of false negative test results and because the msm population in developed countries tends to have a higher prevalence of hiv/aids infection. the uk government advisory committee, sabto, stated in 2013 that "the risk of transfusion of hiv infected blood would increase if msm were allowed to donate blood". in july 2017 however, the uk government reduced the one year deferral window to three months, to take effect in the following months, resulting from sabto's updated conclusions that "new testing systems were accurate and donors were good at complying with the rules". furthermore, nhs blood and transplant are in the process of investigating how possible it is for msm, depending on the degree of risk, to donate without even the three-month deferral. nhs has said that there is currently a limited amount of data on effective ways of conducting such risk assessments and that the initial steps of scoping, evidence gathering and testing will potentially take up to two years to complete. current situation restrictions vary from country to country, and in some countries, the practice of protected sex or periods of abstinence are not considered. the restrictions affect these men and, in some cases, any female sex partners. they do not otherwise affect other women, including women who have sex with women. with regard to blood donation, the united states food & drug administration (fda) enforces a three-month deferral period for msm and women who have sex with msm. in canada, the deferral period for msm blood donors was decreased to 3 months in june 2019. meanwhile, for tissues such as corneas, the msm deferral period is five years in the united states and 12 months in canada. list of countries with their stand on msm blood donors this list shows countries that had restrictions on blood donors. most national standards require direct questioning regarding a man's sexual history, but the length of deferral varies. country deferral for msm deferral for femalesex partners of msm ref. albania no deferral no deferral algeria indefinite argentina no deferral no deferral australia 3 months 3 months since 2021, the deferral period within australia was reduced from 1 year to 3 months without prep. gay and bi men on prep still have a 1-year deferral period – however can donate plasma after 3 months. austria no deferral no deferral a 1-year deferral was implemented following the publication of standardized donor history questionnaire in december 2019. previously, there was an indefinite ban on donations. in december 2019 this was changed to a 4-month deferral period for blood donors. since september 2022, the ban was lifted completely. belarus no deferral no deferral no formal ban on blood donation by men who have sex with men exists in belarus. however, informal restrictions and refusals have occurred, and it is recommended by the ministry of health of belarus that men who have sex with men do not donate blood. deceased homosexuals are forbidden from having their blood sampled as of 1993. belgium 4 months no deferral in june 2019, it was explicitly reported by the lgbt media, that the red cross banned transgender individuals from donating blood in belgium. in july 2022, the restrictions changed from 1 year to 4 months. bhutan no deferral no deferral bolivia no deferral no deferral since july 2019, the ban was lifted completely. brazil no deferral no deferral bulgaria no deferral canada no deferral no deferral since 11 september 2022, anyone who has had anal sex with a new partner in the last three months, regardless of their gender or their partner's gender, must wait three months before donating. in quebec the ban on plasma donation has been lifted on 2 october 2022, and the ban on other donations was lifted on 4 december 2022. chile no deferral no deferral china indefinite colombia no deferral no deferral costa rica no deferral no deferral croatia indefinite cyprus no deferral no deferral czech republic 1 year 1 year denmark 4 months 4 months in march 2020, denmark implemented a policy that allows gay and bi men to donate blood after a 4-month deferral period. estonia 4 months 4 months finland 4 months 4 months france no deferral no deferral between 1 february 2020, to 16 march 2022 france implemented a policy that allows gay and bi men to donate blood after a 4-month deferral period. since 16 march 2022 there is no deferral period for gay and bi men within france to donate blood. germany no deferral no deferral since september 2021, gay and bisexual men are allowed to donate blood if they live in a permanent monogamous relationship. sexual contact between men outside of such relationships will lead to exclusion for four months. effective from 1 april, the german ministry of health will formally remove all remaining discriminatory blood donation policies for gay and bi men throughout germany. greece no deferral no deferral on 10 january 2022, health minister thanos plevris and his deputy, mina gaga, signed a ministerial decree, it will come into force upon publication in the government gazette. greenland 4 months 4 months the policy implemented in denmark proper also applies to greenland (cf. the office of the medical director of health of greenland). transfusion medicine standards published by the danish society for clinical immunology applies. hong kong 6 months hungary no deferral no deferral 12-month deferral scrapped in 2020. iceland indefinite 1 year a rule change was proposed in 2021 by the then minister of health to have a 4-month deferral. that change has of yet not been enacted. india indefinite no deferral court decision pending iran indefinite indefinite ireland no deferral no deferral in january 2017 ireland lifted the lifetime ban on blood donations from msm who had ever engaged in oral or anal sex with another man, switching to 12-month deferral. this was further reduced to a 4-month deferral period in march 2022. since 28 november 2022, all prospective donors, regardless of orientation or gender, are assessed individually and may donate if they have not engaged in anal sex with a new or multiple partners in the 4 months prior to donation. israel no deferral no deferral since 1 october 2021, israel completely removed all restrictions on gay and bisexual men donating blood. italy no deferral no deferral high-risk sexual contact is banned irrespective of the partner's sex. japan 6 months 6 months kosovo indefinite women who have sex with women also barred from donating blood. latvia no deferral no deferral lebanon indefinite lithuania no deferral no deferral removed restrictions on 1 may 2022 malaysia indefinite indefinite malta no deferral no deferral in september 2019, malta implemented a 1-year deferral period for gay and bi men. since september 2022, gay and bi men can legally donate blood within malta under the same conditions as heterosexual people. mexico no deferral no deferral netherlands no deferral no deferral since 1 september 2021, gay men within monogamous relationships are no longer subjected to the four-month waiting period (broadening is being researched) new zealand 3 months 3 months since 14 december 2020, new zealand implemented a 3-month deferral period