Hong Kong lawmaker Raymond Chan says the city should allow gay men to donate blood, reports the South China Morning Post.
Chan tried to give blood at a donor clinic July 17 but was turned away because he has had sex with a man.
He says Hong Kong should follow the lead of other countries such as Britain and Australia, that restrict donorship based on behaviour and not identity.
French doctor and Socialist MP Olivier Véran, meanwhile, made a report to the French Ministry of Health today, claiming that France should also overturn its ban on gay blood donation, according to The Local.
“France is well behind other countries on this issue. In Spain, Portugal and Italy homosexual men are allowed to give blood and there has been no increase in risk to public health there,” Véran said.
“The question has to be about the level of risk and not about the sexuality of the donor.”
After years of dragging its feet, Health Canada finally lifted its lifetime ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) in May — only to replace it with a five-year deferral period.
“A five-year deferral period for MSM is no less discriminatory than an indefinite deferral,” Egale Canada executive director Helen Kennedy responded.
“It’s time to acknowledge that a person’s identity doesn’t put them at any greater risk for a sexually transmitted disease; rather, it is their behaviour that determines their risk.”
The new Canadian policy takes effect July 22.
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