B.C. twins campaign for changes to gay blood donor deferral program | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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B.C. twins campaign for changes to gay blood donor deferral program

Keegan and Kole Lawrence share the same features, birthday, and o-negative blood type. They can't share the experience of donating their blood together, because one of them is gay.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK -Keegan Lawrence

KAMLOOPS - Keegan and Kole Lawrence are identical twins who share the world's rarest blood type, O-negative.

The Kamloops brothers wanted to donate their high-demand blood type together, but they can't due to what they call an "absurd, discriminatory ban."

One of the brothers is gay and currently, there is a three month deferral period for any gay man, monogamous or not, who wishes to donate blood due to fear of HIV contamination.

The brothers have started a campaign with the Thompson Rivers University's student union to bring awareness to the deferral.

“I want people to understand why the ban was there, to begin with, and why we don't necessarily need the ban anymore. (I want) people to think the ban is as absurd as I think it is,” Keegan said.

The type of blood shared by the brothers, O-negative is always in demand for being a universal blood type that can be used for any recipient. Lawrence says the deferral period of three months prohibits healthy gay men from donating blood for most of their adult life.

“Were advocating for a more behaviour-based model. We believe that's safer and more fair because we're not just restricting an entire population donating, we’re restricting people who have unsafe sex,” Lawrence said.

Credit: FACEBOOK - Thompson Rivers University Students' Union

Canadian Blood Services has seen incremental reductions in the restrictions placed on male gay donors over the past few years. Gay men used to have a lifetime ban on donating blood when the ban was introduced in 1992, which was reduced a five-year deferral in 2013, followed by a one-year deferral in 2016. Earlier this year, it was announced that the period of time was reduced to three months.

Dr. Mark Bigham, a medical consultant with Canadian Blood Services, says all of the changes made to the policy have happened due to extensive research.

“It's not discriminatory, it's based on science,” Bigham said. “The approach that we take with respect to this particular eligibility criteria is based on a population risk associated with that behaviour rather than an individual's risk. I think that's where the dilemma comes in.”

Bigham said that research is currently underway to examine other criteria that could be used to determine donor eligibility through different approaches.

“We’re waiting for the reports to come out, and this will occur over the next couple of years,” Bigham said. “It’s entirely possible that we may identify a reliable process to identify HIV risk in men who have sex with men and identify a cohort within that group who pose no added risk compared to other eligible blood donors.”

Bigham notes that the process for changing the rules regarding blood donations is not a political decision, but rather based on research and data compiled from across the country.

“The data will probably start to come out and be analyzed in the next couple of years, and that will form the basis of a submission to Health Canada for their approval,” Bigham said. “Health Canada is the regulator in Canada of the blood supply. It’s under Health Canada regulatory framework and ultimately we need to get their approval for any such change.”

Although politicians can’t change the ban directly through their agenda, Bigham said a political focus on the issue has encouraged Canadian Blood Services to speed up research that could reduce or end the ban.

“It has become politicized over the years, and I think to a degree, it has helped provide an increasing impetus for (Canadian Blood Services) and partners to embark on this path to find a way to make blood donation as accessible to Canadians as possible,” Bigham said.

Bigham thinks that future changes will have to revamp the process by which men are screened before donating blood. 

“We've probably reached the nadir for where it's going to go with respect to the current population-based behavioural risk assessment process. Going forward, if we're going to be able to achieve further reductions it will have to be on the basis of some kind of individual health assessment,” Bigham said.

Countries such as Italy and Spain accept blood donations from gay men and use an individual assessment model to screen donors. Bigham said this method sometimes poses problems in those countries.

“The rate of HIV positive tests (on donated blood) is considerably higher, something like tenfold higher than in Canada. That implies that the physician assessment process used in those countries is not identifying as effectively as the process here in Canada,” Bigham said. “It increases the risk that one of those HIV positive donors may test negative and be in the so-called widow period of the infection and that could lead to a transfusion-transmitted infection of HIV.”

Bigham notes that all blood donated in Canada is tested for various infections, including HIV, before it is sent to hospitals. The window period is a period of time when someone may be infected with HIV but not show signs in testing.

“The big concern with any of the infections that we screen for is the concern about a window period,” Bigham said. “It’s a precautionary deferral that we apply. Three months is certainly longer than the window period...but we're trying to be very precautionary here. It's an added safety step.”

Bigham and the twin brothers both agree that the current three-month ban excludes men who could be healthy donors.

“The current criteria, even though they've been reduced to three months, it's still one of the challenges and of course it still effectively excludes those who have an active partnership with another male,” Bigham says.

If you want to voice support for the brother’s campaign, click here.

 


To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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