Mowat Yasmin, Hoad Veronica, Masser Barbara, Kaldor John, Heywood Anita, Thorpe Rachel, McManus Hamish, McGregor Skye, Haire Bridget
The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Transfusion. 2024 Mar;64(3):493-500. doi: 10.1111/trf.17732. Epub 2024 Feb 13.
In Australia, a man cannot donate blood if he has had sex with another man within the past 3 months. However, this policy has been criticized as being discriminatory as it does not consider lower risk subgroups, and led to calls for modifications to the policy that more accurately distinguish risk among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM).
We used data from a nationally representative survey to estimate the proportion of GBM aged 18-74 years old who would be eligible to donate under current criteria and other scenarios.
Among the 5178 survey participants, 155 (3.0%) were classified as GBM based on survey responses, Among the GBM, 40.2% (95% CI 28.0%-53.7%) were eligible to donate based on current criteria, and 21.0% (95% CI 14.5%-29.5%) were ineligible due to the 3 months deferral alone. Eligibility among GBM, all men, and the population increased as criteria were removed. Under the new Australian plasma donation criteria, 73.6% (95% CI 64.4%-81.1%) of GBM, 68.4% (95% CI 65.5%-71.2%) of all men, and 60.8% (95% CI 58.8%-62.8%) of the full population were estimated to be eligible. Only 16.1% (95% CI 8.6%-28.1%) of GBM knew that the male-to-male sex deferral period is 3 months.
Changing the deferral criteria and sexual risk evaluation would lead to a higher proportion of GBM being eligible to donate blood. Knowledge of the current GBM deferral period is very low. Improved education about the current criteria and any future changes are required to improve blood donation rates.
在澳大利亚，如果一名男性在过去3个月内与另一名男性发生过性行为，他就不能献血。然而，这项政策被批评为具有歧视性，因为它没有考虑到低风险亚组，这导致人们呼吁修改该政策，以便更准确地区分男同性恋者、双性恋者和其他与男性发生性行为者（GBM）之间的风险。
我们使用了一项具有全国代表性的调查数据，以估计18至74岁的GBM在现行标准和其他情况下符合献血条件的比例。
在5178名调查参与者中，根据调查回复，有155人（3.0%）被归类为GBM。在GBM中，根据现行标准，40.2%（95%CI 28.0%-53.7%）符合献血条件，仅因3个月的延期规定就有21.0%（95%CI 14.5%-29.5%）不符合条件。随着标准的取消，GBM、所有男性和总体人群的符合条件率都有所增加。根据澳大利亚新的血浆捐献标准，估计73.6%（95%CI 64.4%-81.1%）的GBM、68.4%（95%CI 65.5%-71.2%）的所有男性和60.8%（95%CI 58.8%-62.8%）的总体人群符合条件。只有16.1%（95%CI 8.6%-28.1%）的GBM知道男男性行为的延期期限是3个月。
改变延期标准和性风险评估将导致更高比例的GBM有资格献血。目前对GBM延期期限的知晓率非常低。需要加强对现行标准以及未来任何变化的教育，以提高献血率。
