Red Cross ignores concerns from experts / AMA

This media release was issued by the TGLRG on 19.8.08.

The Australian Red Cross has ignored the expert opinion of its chief medical advisor on low risk sexual activity between men.

The revelation came today during the cross examination of Dr Brenton Wylie, the primary Red Cross witness in the Tasmanian gay blood donor case initiated by Launceston gay man, Michael Cain.

According to documents presented to the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal by Mr Cain's lawyer, Peter Tree SC, the Red Cross's chief epidemiological advisor, Dr John Kaldor advised in 2001 that,

"based on current epidemiological evidence, there is no justification for excluding donors on the basis of oral sex".

Dr Kaldor also wrote

"it would seem prudent to defer donors who have had male anal sex without a condom...for a donor who has had anal sex only with a condom, the risk is far lower".

The documents also show that, as well as ignoring Dr Kaldor's views, the Red Cross ignored a request by the Australian Medical Association to "obtain views on high risk heterosexual relationships" in relation to blood donation.

The documents were put to Dr Wylie because he was a member of the Red Cross management committee which made decisions about blood donation exclusions.

On the basis that Dr Wylie is effectively defending his own decisions about deferring gay blood donors, Mr Tree questioned Dr Wylie's impartiality as a witness before the inquiry.

In further evidence Dr Wylie claimed that men who have sex with other men are thousands of times more likely to have HIV than other people, despite the fact that only 95 men who have sex with men in Tasmania have HIV, an estimated 0.5% of that group.

Dr Wylie agreed that Aborigines have much higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases than other Australians but disagreed that this should lead to their deferral from blood donation because "they are a group not a risk activity", and "there are no Aboriginal donors".

On the matter of statistical modelling, Dr Wylie dismissed concerns that the models he provided to the inquiry, which show that it would be dangerous to remove the blanket ban on gay blood donation, show that a 12 month deferral of the kind operating in Australia is also dangerous.

The case continues tomorrow.

The current gay blood donation inquiry before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal was instigated by Launceston gay man Michael Cain who is seeking a blood donation policy which screens donors for the safety of their sexual activity rather than the gender of their sexual partner.

The current hearings began on August 7th and will continue until the end of this month.

For more information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668 or Michael Cain on 0400 734 798.

For more on gay blood donation visit www.gayblooddonation.org