Bloody Row Over Gay Donations

There has been cross-community support for a bid to overturn a controversial decision by the NI Health Minister over blood donations by gay men.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Sinn Fein are accusing the DUP Minister of prejudice over his decision to maintain a lifetime ban on gay men donating blood.

Edwin Poots told the assembly on Wednesday that the law in Northern Ireland should not change, even though this will put NI out of step with the rest of the UK where a ban following the 1980s Aids threat has been eased.

Under the UK's new rules, men whose last sexual contact with another man was over a year ago, can now donate.

Ulster Unionist Health spokesperson John McCallister MLA questioned the motives behind Health Minister refusal to lift the ban on gay and bi-sexual men donating blood in Northern Ireland.

"Considering the strong medical evidence in support of lifting the ban, it is bewildering that the Minister should take this stance - especially when the demand for blood has never been higher.

"In Northern Ireland, around 500 people need to accept lifesaving blood every week and to meet this demand we need around 300 people to give blood each and every day," he said.

"What the Minister failed to highlight was that under the current United Kingdom guidelines of a 12 month deferral period before donating blood the chance of contracting HIV stands at one in every 4.38million donations.

"With a lifetime ban the risk stands at one in every 4.41 million donations.

"Given that this is such a small margin I cannot see the logic behind the Minister's decision to turn away willing donators.

"We cannot turn willing blood donors away because of out-dated and irrational prejudice," he concluded.

Sinn Fein MLA Michelle Gildernew said that Health Minister Edwin Poots is wrong by continuing with a lifetime ban against members of the gay community donating blood.

"The Minister is bringing his own prejudice into play here and has taken this decision without consultation with the Health Committee.

"This is just feeding into the discrimination that people from the gay, lesbian and bi-sexual community already suffer," she said.

"It goes without saying that we need to have robust screening of blood, whoever it comes from.

"This act of discrimination against people within our community, who in the end of the day - are prepared to give blood which would be used to save lives - needs to be reversed immediately."

(BMcC/GK)