A new petition has been launched in Australia with the aim of ending the nation’s current ban on gay men donating blood within 12 months.
Ky Ruprecht who is a medical student from Canberra launched the petition titled #AllOurBlood on Change.org, highlighting the current restrictions put in place and upheld by the Australian Red Cross, that prevent men who have had sex with men in the last 12 months from donating blood.
Since the launch of the petition over 6,000 people have shown their support for the cause, with many highlighting a Red Cross report stating that the risk of HIV transmission to be less than one in a million, given a window period of just six days.
Ruprecht said one of the key problems with the current policy is the disparity between the window for testing for HIV and the deferral period for blood donation.
Ruprecht explained that the principle behind a deferral period is to account for a window where disease can potentially remain undetectable in the body and a three-month deferral is now widely considered to exceed what is required to maintain blood safety, given the scientific testing employed by the blood service.
Ruprecht also added that the current ban reinforces problematic stereotypes about the rainbow community.
You can sign Ruprecht ‘s petition HERE.
Last Updated on Oct 10, 2019
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