It is a decision that homosexuals have been waiting for almost 40 years. They will indeed be able to donate blood under the same conditions as heterosexuals. Until now, they had to justify a period of sexual abstinence of four months, otherwise the donation was not possible. The Ministry of Health has announced it will be over from March 16.
“We are reserved on what we consider to be a form of precipitation,” noted Fabrice Pilorgé, director of advocacy for the AiDES Association, which fights against HIV and viral hepatitis. “A man having sex with another man has 200 times more likely to contract the disease than a heterosexual“, he explained.
“We are not against evolution, as long as it does not entail risks. If this risk would increase again, which has been decreasing steadily since 2012, it would be a real problem,” he said. worry. “It will take a enhanced surveillance and we can trust the agencies to do that, but to the extent that it is an avoidable risk, the fact of accepting this certainty does not suit us “, he concluded.
