Gay blood donation campaigner welcomes independent review of donor guidelines

This media release was issued by the TGLRG on 11.9.10

Gay blood donation campaign, Michael Cain, has welcomed an independent review, announced today, of the Australian Red Cross's blanket ban on all sexually-active gay and bisexual men giving blood.

Mr Cain, whose case against the gay blood ban before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal in 2008 helped prompt the review, said the review will allow him and others to make the case that many gay men are at lower risk of HIV infection than many heterosexuals who are currently allowed to donate.

"I will be making the case to the review that being allowed to donate blood should depend on the safety of your sexual activity not the gender of your partner", Mr Cain said.

"Statistical modelling from Australia and studies from countries where gay blood donation is allowed all point to the same conclusion, the risk to the blood supply is from unsafe sex not gay sex."

"By excluding gay men who practise safe sex, the Red Cross is denying much needed safe blood to those in need, at times when blood stocks are dwindling."

Mr Cain welcomed the independence of the review, headed by eminent Australian medical researcher Professor Steve Wesselingh, saying it will inspire confidence in all those with a stake in the issue.

"Because this review will independent of the organisation that administers and has vigorously defended the current policy, gay men, people with haemophilia, medical experts, AIDS Councils and blood recipients generally will all be confident their views will be given serious consideration."

Mr Cain's case against the Red Cross ban was heard by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal in 2008 and involved expert witnesses being called from across Australia and around the world.

According to the background information and terms of reference of the review, the evidence presented in Mr Cain's case was critical to the review's establishment and will be one of its major sources of information.

The Tribunal did not overturn the ban for legal reasons, however, it agreed with Mr Cain that some gay men are at relatively low risk of HIV infection, and called for a further review.

Specifically, it found that,

"the risk of HIV transmission posed by the low risk sub-group of the MSM (men who have sex with men) group is, in fact, substantially lower than the MSM group as a whole", and "the relative risk of this low risk group is much closer to the relative risk of other groups tolerated by the donor deferral policy than previously acknowledged".

The review will look at all sex-based donor deferrals and will accept submissions from September 11th until November 6th. For more information visit www.bloodrulesreview.com.au

Mr Cain said he will be lodging a submission with the review and will ask the expert witnesses who appeared on his behalf to do the same.

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