Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/560195
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 AUGUST 2015 16 News MARTINA BORG THE lifetime ban on sexually- active gay men remains a contro- versial aspect of medical norms in a society that is otherwise now geared towards more equal rights for gay people, and scuttling the prejudice they face in daily life. The issue was recently raised by the government's LBTIQ con- sultative committee in an action plan that proposes to address the ban, originally introduced be- cause men having sex with men had a higher risk of HIV infection than heterosexuals. "While the prevalence of HIV is still higher among men who have sex with men, the improvement in testing procedures available nowadays, make such life-time bans unjustifiable," Gabi Calleja, coordinator of the Malta Gay Rights Movement and chair of the LGBTIQ council. The higher incidence of HIV in men who have sex with men is at- tested in figures supplied by the health ministry's department of disease prevention. In 2014, 27 out of 39 cases of HIV in males fell into the category of men who have sex with men, and 2015 has seen some 30 HIV cases out of 33 pertaining to the same category (until 23 July). The lifelong ban, in place since the mid-1980s in a number of Eu- ropean countries including Ger- many, France, Holland and Bel- gium, dates back to a time when not much was yet understood about HIV and, by extension, when tests for the virus hadn't been fully developed yet. But modern technologies have developed that can detect the presence of the virus even when it is still in its incubation period. As the health ministry con- firmed in no uncertain terms, all blood donations at the National Blood Transfusion Unit are effec- tively tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, as well as syphilis. "Potential donors also have their haemoglobin assessed and undertake a medical examina- tion before donating their blood," a spokesperson said, explaining that some 350 units of blood re checked for the aforementioned disease markers on a weekly ba- sis. While the LGBTIQ council would welcome the removal of the ban, it seems more likely that the blood donation ban would be tweaked by introducing a time window from a man's last sexual contact would be established. "This would still however dis- criminate against those men in stable committed relationships," Gabi Calleja said. "While agreeing and accept- ing that the safety and integrity of blood supplies remains para- mount, MGRM feels that the increasing evidence in favour of ending the lifetime ban on this particular group is overwhelm- ing. "The evidence and practice in a number of countries with pre- vious lifetime bans has led some countries to modify and refine their eligibility criteria to take into account current evidence and best practice," she said, add- ing that those countries making progress on LGBTIQ issues had ultimately realised that the ban was unnecessary, maintained not for scientific reasons but preju- dice. Parliamentary secretary for health Chris Fearne has now ap- pointed a technical committee to make recommendations on whether gay men should be al- lowed to donate blood. "We are studying the proposed reversal of the lifelong ban on blood donations by gay men from both a scientific standpoint as well as from an angle of equal- ity legislation," Fearne said. The assess- ment will take stock of the situation, to- gether with i n t e r n a t i o n a l studies in this field and changes that had taken place fol- lowing the policies of other countries. "The change from previous blanket and permanent deferrals in other countries has largely been a result of the recognition of advances in the testing and processing of donated blood, changes in the epidemiol- ogy of sexually transmitted in- fections (STIs) and improved scientific knowledge, which have prompted a review of donor de- ferral on the basis of sexual be- haviour," Calleja said. She quoted a review of evidence completed by SaBTO (the UK Advisory Committee on the Safe- ty of Blood, Tissues and Organs) which found that improvements in processes and automation sig- nificantly reduced the chance of errors in blood testing. "One conclusion the report makes, is that the modelled risk of HIV-infectious donation being released into the blood supply had been placed at 1 per 4.4 mil- lion donations, and that the in- troduction of a 12-month defer- ral period would not significantly affect this figure," Calleja said. Appealing to the sense of univer- sal acceptance, Calleja explained that the ban was discordant with current social developments. "The radical changes in both the legal and social consideration of same sex relationships show that society has become less accepting of perceived unfairness or dis- crimination, and given that blood donation is positioned as an im- portant act of social responsibil- ity and solidarity, the exclusion of men who have sex with men sug- gests something contradictory." She added that the ban passes a marginalising message at odds with the emphasis on the LG- BTIQ community being a fully accepted part of society. As the SaBTO report points out, gay men are also less willing to accept being 'lumped together' as a sin- gle risk category, irrespective of their own sexual behaviour and risk-taking. "We look forward to the Na- tional Blood Transfusion service adopting such an evidence-based approach, and changing the crite- ria for donation by men who have sex with men," Calleja said. mborg@mediatoday.com.mt 1980s ban on gay blood next taboo in line of fire Other groups facing lifetime ban on blood donation • Sufferers of cancer or a malignant disease • Those who had potential exposure to Creutzfeldt-Jacob (Mad Cow) disease • Patients suffering from insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus • Those who have a history of intravenous drug abuse • Those with heart and blood vessel disease • People who have infectious conditions like carriers of the HIV virus, leishmaniasis and Q-fever among others • Persons whose sexual behaviour puts them at high risk of acquiring severe infectious diseases that can be transmitted by blood Source: Ministry for Energy and Health Incidence of HIV and AIDS between 2010 and 2015 Year HIV virus AIDS Male Female Heterosexual Men who have Intra-Venous sex with men Drug Use 2010 17 6 19 4 16 7 0 2011 24 5 22 7 17 9 0 2012 30 6 28 8 25 10 0 2013 36 1 31 6 15 18 3 2014 39 4 39 4 12 27 1 2015 33 1 30 4 7 25 0 (until 23/07/15) YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Gabi Calleja