National Blood Service in "homophobic" row (From The Northern Echo)

National Blood Service in "homophobic" row

2:46pm Tuesday 11th November 2008

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Two students’ unions have banned the National Blood Service from promoting itself in their buildings because they say it discriminates against gay male students.

Both Newcastle and Sunderland University’s elected councils voted to approve the motion to ban the service from having a ‘‘visible’’ presence in their buildings.

The National Blood Service has a policy preventing homosexual men from donating blood because they are deemed a ’high risk’ category of contracting blood-borne viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis B.

Donation sessions are still operated on campus by universities, but the ban prevents would-be donors from accessing information and advertising within the students’ unions.

Both Newcastle and Sunderland University’s policies have been in place from 2005. Greg Du Bois, Sunderland University’s student union president, said that the executive committee voted to reinstate the policy this year after the ban was lifted for the previous 12 months.

‘‘The ban has been in place for about four years,’’ he said.

‘‘They don’t allow gay men to give blood and that has been determined as not a satisfactory reason.’’ The National Blood Service said that men who have had sex with other men are excluded from donating blood based on data collected by the Health Protection Agency.

Dr Patricia Hewitt, consultant specialist in transfusion microbiology at the National Blood Service, said: ‘‘There is a common misconception that the policy is homophobic.

‘‘However, our job - purely and simply - is to make sure there is enough blood for patients, and that the blood we provide is as safe as possible.

‘‘We can’t rely on testing alone to ensure this, we also have to make sure donors are at the lowest possible risk of infections which can be transmitted by blood.

‘‘If evidence shows that their behaviour - sexual or otherwise - puts them at increased risk they are asked not to donate.’’ Dr Hewitt added: ‘‘To collect 7,000 donations of blood every day we have to look at whether people fall into broad risk categories based on scientific evidence, rather than the circumstances of each individual.’’

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