NHS blood service has announced. The move has been welcomed by campaigners who have fought to overturn rules that “perpetuate inequality”.Men in a long-term relationship with another man will be able to donate blood from next summer, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said.
The rules currently require all men who have had sex with men to abstain from sex for three months to give blood.The change in policy will mean risk assessments for donors will be conducted on an individual basis, rather than a population-based one.
It will mean that anyone who has the same sexual partner for more than three months will be able to donate if there is no known exposure to a sexually transmitted infection and they are not using anti-HIV drugs PreP or PEP,.