The Joint United Kingdom Blood Transfusion Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) has the remit to detailed service ‘prepare guidelines for the United Kingdom Blood Transfusion Services’. JPAC is made up of is made up of over 100 people appointed because of their knowledge and expertise. They produce guidelines which are applicable to all four Blood Transfusion Services in the UK. Implementation of these guidelines is a matter for individual Blood Transfusion Services. Month Deferment Problem solved? – While the recommendation of SaBTO to reduce the deferment period from 12 to 3 months will reduce the number of gay and bisexual men discriminated against in blood donation, it will not remove that discrimination. Many gay and bisexual men who are perfectly safe to donate blood will remain unable to do so within the rules. It is not that giving blood is a right, it is not, it is that efforts to improve the safety of the blood supply will fail if confidence is not maintained in rules of deferment. It is our strong belief that only a deferment based upon individual risk can inspire that confidence, eliminate discrimination and increase blood safety. Confidence in donation rules - compliance In 2007, SaBTO believed compliance by gay and bisexual men with the lifetime ban to be at around 97%, a figure that was disputed at the time. Four years on, SaBTO’s own estimates in advance of the 2011 rule change stated modelling suggests that the length of the deferral “The period is less important than compliance with the rule, with 100% compliance with either a 12 month or a 5 year deferral reducing the risk by 30%. Compliance by gay and bisexual men is thus a crucial factor in the protection of the blood supply. It is therefore important that gay and bisexual men have confidence in the blood donation rules and that compliance is maximised. This has been reinforced by the publication of a recent Public Health England study into compliance, the largest ever, which showed “lower
The Joint United Kingdom Blood Transfusion Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) has the remit to ‘prepare detailed service guidelines for the United Kingdom Blood Transfusion Services’. JPAC is made up of is made up of over 100 people appointed because of their knowledge and expertise. They produce guidelines which are applicable to all four Blood Transfusion Services in the UK. Implementation of these guidelines is a matter for individual Blood Transfusion Services. Month Deferment – Problem solved? While the recommendation of SaBTO to reduce the deferment period from 12 to 3 months will reduce the number of gay and bisexual men discriminated against in blood donation, it will not remove that discrimination. Many gay and bisexual men who are perfectly safe to donate blood will remain unable to do so within the rules. It is not that giving blood is a right, it is not, it is that efforts to improve the safety of the blood supply will fail if confidence is not maintained in rules of deferment. It is our strong belief that only a deferment based upon individual risk can inspire that confidence, eliminate discrimination and increase blood safety. Confidence in donation rules - compliance In 2007, SaBTO believed compliance by gay and bisexual men with the lifetime ban to be at around 97%, a figure that was disputed at the time. Four years on, SaBTO’s own estimates in advance of the 2011 rule change stated “The modelling suggests that the length of the deferral period is less important than compliance with the rule, with 100% compliance with either a 12 month or a 5 year deferral reducing the risk by 30%. Compliance by gay and bisexual men is thus a crucial factor in the protection of the blood supply. It is therefore important that gay and bisexual men have confidence in the blood donation rules and that compliance is maximised. This has been reinforced by the publication of a recent Public Health England study into compliance, the largest ever, which showed “lower
Blood-Donation-Briefing-Updated.docx