A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
The reduction in the deferral period for allowing gay men to donate blood is a welcome move but there is more to be done, writes campaigner ETHAN SPIBEY
THE BIG ISSUE
ETHAN SPIBEY
JUST SIX YEARS AGO, gay men faced a lifetime ban from donating blood.
The reasons for this are well known; the Aids epidemic in the Eighties resulted in a wave of retaliatory policies that entrenched the view of gay sex as risky, even dangerous.
Medicine and our community has thankfully moved on; we now live in the reality where HIV is not a death sentence, and everincreasing knowledge on transmission and treatment means those with the virus can lead a full and near-normal life.