A New Era for Blood Donation in Australia
Erol Dalkic, a medical professional, has always been aware of the challenges faced by members of the LGBTQI community when it comes to blood donation. For years, he felt excluded from the life-saving process that he helped facilitate through his work. However, on Monday, he took a significant step forward by donating whole blood for the first time, thanks to changes made by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.
The new policy, which came into effect on Monday, marks a turning point for many in the LGBTQI community. It removes the previous requirement for men to be asked if they’ve recently had sex with another man in pre-donation questionnaires. Instead, all donors will now be asked the same set of sexual activity questions, regardless of their gender. This change is expected to open the door for thousands of additional donations from the LGBTQI community.
Dalkic shared his feelings about this change, reflecting on the impact of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in the 1990s. “I grew up in the 90s, after the horrible HIV and AIDS pandemic, when people who were similar to me were labelled as having dangerous bodies,” he said. “So this is a very meaningful time for us to feel viscerally that we are more included within society.”
The shift in policy is particularly significant for gay and bisexual men and transgender individuals who are in monogamous, long-term relationships. According to modeling conducted by Lifeblood, this change could result in up to 20,000 extra donations per year. Those who aren’t in such relationships can still donate plasma, following a July decision to lift the ban on donations from gay and bisexual men and transgender women.
Dr Dalkic and his long-term partner Graham August have already made 15 donations each since the change and formed a donation team called Fruit Juice to support other members of the LGBTQI community who wish to participate.
“We like the term ‘spiteful altruism’ because we’re doing the right thing, we want to contribute, but it’s also a ‘screw you’ because we’ve been waiting so long to help,” August said. “This is our community saying: we’re here, we’ve been waiting, look at all the good we can do.”
For August, the ability to donate blood was especially meaningful. He had watched his father donate blood more than 300 times, and being barred from following in his footsteps felt wrong. “It hurt, it felt like I was being excluded and not by any choice of mine,” he said. “Seeing my dad doing all that, seeing other members of the community doing it and now being able to do it myself feels correct.”
Gay and bisexual men, as well as anyone taking the HIV prevention medication PrEP, can now donate plasma without a waiting period, provided they meet all other eligibility criteria. This change followed extensive research and modelling showing no impact on the safety of donations under the new policy.
“We would like to acknowledge all of those that have waited years to be able to donate,” said Cath Stone, executive director of Lifeblood. “We wait for the right science and evidence and then we make changes at the appropriate time.”
