Wales to lift restrictions on LGBT+ people donating blood

As part of a four-nations agreement, health minister Vaughan Gething will announce today the ending of restrictions, set by SABTO (The UK Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs) which have prevented many LGBT+ people from being able to donate blood.

The change will come into effect in summer 2021.

The Welsh Blood Service (WBS) will now prepare for the lifting of restrictions and make changes to some of the questions blood donors are asked, moving away from blanket restrictions and to a more personalised assessment of donors, which does not take account of their sex, gender or sexual orientation.

“This announcement will put an end to the discrimination many people in the LGBT+ community have faced," Mr Gething said. "So many people have worked so hard to get us to this position. I’m very grateful to them and delighted the Welsh Government has been able to see through this long-standing ambition."

First minister Mark Drakeford welcomed "a momentous announcement".

He said: "Blood donation can change people’s lives and it is only right that everyone who can give blood, should be given the opportunity to help others. This is a great day for the LGBT+ community and a great day for blood donation.” 

Alan Prosser, the director of the Welsh Blood Service said he was "delighted" by the decision.

“These changes represent many years of hard work by the FAIR steering group, which is a UK wide collaboration of healthcare professionals and academia within which the Welsh Blood Service has played an important role," he said.

“While blood services are not responsible for setting the rules around who can and can’t donate, we’re delighted that the work of the group has resulted in the development of a series of new regulations that will enable us to welcome more donors to our clinics.

“There is still work to be done to implement these new regulations, but we are delighted these changes have been announced and look forward to welcoming new donors to our clinics in 2021.”