Investigating inclusive blood donation policy options for sexual and gender minorities

This project will investigate possible alternative blood donation screening criteria that could lead to sexual and gender minorities who are sexually active being allowed to donate blood without a mandatory waiting period since their last sexual encounter. Currently in Canada, any cisgender man who has sex with another man must wait three months since that sex before they are eligible to donate blood; this also applies to trans women who have not had lower gender affirming surgery. Community advocacy organizations such as the Community-Based Research Centre, have long argued that this type of time-based deferral policy is unnecessarily discriminatory on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. This project will investigate claims that the current policy is necessary, and propose alternative policies for future safety evaluation.

Faculty Supervisor:

Nathan Lachowsky

Student:

Robert Higgins

Partner:

Community-Based Research Centre

Discipline:

Epidemiology / Public health and policy

Sector:

University:

University of Victoria

Program: