New eligibility criteria have come into effect for gay and bisexual men who want to donate blood.

According to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), the aim of these changes is “to make blood donation more inclusive and to welcome additional donors from the LGBT+ community”.

From March 28, the deferral of gay and bisexual men who have sex with men has been reduced from 12 months to four months.

“This means that a man whose last sexual contact with another man was more than four months ago will be eligible to donate if he meets the other donor selection criteria,” explained IBTS medical and scientific director, Dr Tor Hervig.

The deferral of any person who takes pre or post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP or PEP), which are taken to reduce the risk of contracting HIV, is also reduced from 12 months to four months.

Dr Hervig said that the IBTS will closely monitor the effects of these changes “to ensure that blood safety is maintained”.

“This is an interim measure and will be followed later in the year by an individualised risk assessment of donors’ sexual behaviours, similar to the FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) system introduced by the UK Blood Services in June 2021.

“This individualised risk assessment will include several aspects of sexual behaviour, including oral sex, and will apply to all blood donors. The IBTS will be one of the first blood services in the world to introduce such an individualised  assessment of donors’ risks and is working towards introducing this system later in 2022,” Dr Hervig noted.

The decision to make these changes was made following a report to the IBTS board in September 2021 by an independent advisory group - the Social Behaviours Review Group – which was established to review blood donor criteria.