No Longer Discriminating Against Gay Men When Donating Blood
Published: Tuesday, Jul 25th 2023, 10:40
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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Swissmedic has approved a proposal from the Blood Donation SRK Switzerland for unified criteria, which will come into effect in November. This means that men who have sex with men will no longer be disadvantaged when it comes to blood donation. The current rule of a twelve-month waiting period has been in place since 2017, before which men who had sex with men were generally excluded from donating blood. The new regulation is based on an updated risk assessment, which the Blood Donation SRK Switzerland developed with an expert group over two years. It takes into account the epidemiological situation in Switzerland and data from countries that have already adjusted their criteria. From November, all people will have the same criteria after new sexual contacts, regardless of whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. This means that four months after the last new sexual contact, no blood can be donated. This period increases to twelve months if a person has had sexual contact with more than two partners in the last four months.
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