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However, in 2014 the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA) rejected a Red Cross submission to reduce the deferral period citing it would increase the risk of HIV being transmitted through the blood supply without a related increase in donors. Altruistic donation is associated with a safer blood supply. It is worth noting that in Australia, there are no financial or other incentives to donate blood. Gay men are more likely to contract HIV, but the most conservative window between infection and detection is only 12 weeks. In 2012, a study commissioned by the Australian Red Cross concluded that, as the vast majority of blood donors are compliant with safety regulations, there would be minimal risks associated with reducing the deferral period for homosexually active men to six months. Some countries, including Argentina, Italy and Spain, have no such bans and rely instead on individual risk assessments. The US and the UK have a similar 12-month deferral period, while other countries, including South Africa, have a six month deferral. Multiple testing methods are used to comprehensively screen for HIV and other blood-borne infections, meaning the risk of HIV being transmitted via donated blood is less than one in a million.īy 2000, Australian blood donation regulations had been changed to allow for donations by men who had not engaged in homosexual sex for 12 months, generally referred to as a deferral period.
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Today the “window period” for blood testing is conservatively estimated to be around six to 12 weeks. Technology has significantly improved since the 1980s. It allowed governments to demonstrate they were taking action in response to widespread public fears about HIV, much of which were directed toward gay men. This ban occurred at a time when HIV testing technology was very new and often unreliable due to an extended “ window period” – the lag time between someone contracting HIV and antibodies showing up in a blood test.īut banning gay men from donating blood was also a political move.