July 24/13

Today, Canadian Blood Services and its Quebec counterpart, Héma-Québec, announced it has completed its transition to new rules that permit men who have had sex with men to donate their blood so long as they have not had sex with any men in the five years prior to the donation date.

Wow, congratulations, CBS/HQ!  It only took you five years to update your policy in such a way that its still virtually useless!

If you didn't already know, I did my Master's Capstone project on increasing Organ Donation rates in Canada, and blood and tissue donations from the category of MSM was a peripheral topic that I briefly discussed.  This was three and a half years ago now, but even at that time the evidence indicated that proper and thorough screening techniques could almost completely nullify the need for an indefinite deferral period.  Indeed, as it was pointed out in media reporting today, several other countries such as UK, have already updated their policies in light of new research, and now allow gay men to donate after a 12 month deferral period.  The policy change by CBS/HQ is so mealy-mouthed, I'm ashamed for them for looking so parochial. 

Before you start talking to me about the tainted blood scandal of the 80's and early 90's, I have two things to say:

1) I have a pony in this race, so to speak.  In what turned out to be a truly heartbreaking day in mid-October 1994, as I was reeling from the death of two peers in Yellowknife, my mother informed me that her cousin's son had died.  He was a hemophiliac, and he became infected by tainted blood in the 80's after a blood transfusion.  His mother still grieves his death, and it was imprinted in my memory because it was the third death I had to grieve that day.  I advocate safety and control of the blood supply as strongly as the next guy, but I'm cognizant that the research bears out findings that a five-year deferral is just overzealous and, in policy terms, a real turkey.  The rate of increase in donors is ever so marginal that it begs the question of why even bothering.

2) CBS/HQ were created out of the scandal at the Canadian Red Cross, with a mandate to pursue thorough and comprehensive screening of the blood supplies, particularly in light of the significant gaps in knowledge about HIV and Hepatitis C at the time.  Their work is far more rigorous than the previous regime, and there have been enormous strides in both screening technologies and our knowledge about blood-borne infections like HIV and Hepatitis C.  It's a stronger system, and that should give us enough confidence to validate the findings in other countries with similarly high standards and quality controls.  This overly-conservative 5-year policy is hardly confidence-boosting.

There's still much work to be done...

...Wish you were here.