As the daughter of a donor with a rare blood type, I have always been reminded of the importance of donating your blood. Even with a lowly A positive blood type, such as mine, donating blood is a necessary honour aiding vulnerable people in desperate need of blood transfusions. I believe that this endeavour should be made more prominent in the media and popular culture to increase the number of donations. Increasing awareness and understanding of how easy it is to donate would easily escalate said numbers. A mere 10 minutes of your time can save or improve the lives of at least three people. Not to sound like an ad campaign…but donate your blood!
Despite mine, and many others’, views on how important donations are, until recently a large category of the population were barred or constrained from participating. Many may have heard of ‘the infected blood inquiry’, occurring from the 1970s to 1990s in Britain. During this scandal, an estimated 26,800 people in the UK were given contaminated blood infected with Hepatitis C or HIV. Many who contracted these diseases, specifically HIV, not only had a massive change in their health and daily life but also faced rising social stigma. To prevent this disaster from ever occurring again, the government and the NHS established several measures to prioritise the safety of the blood supply.
However, in the backlash that ensued, gay and bisexual men were specifically targeted as a high-risk group for the transmission of HIV. Hence, in 1980 the government placed a lifetime ban from donating blood on men who have sex with men (MSM). This drastic precaution was made due to the inability to screen donations, however as scientific developments occurred, this lifetime ban was no longer necessary and rather became a discriminatory exaggeration. I can understand how amidst such a tragedy, with calls for repercussions and change, that the government would act so drastically. Their initial thought was protection and prevention.
However, as time went on this exclusion became damaging for the queer community. Over time, calls for change to the legislation were listened to. After various advancements, a final change was made in June 2021, making a deferral period only applicable to those, regardless of gender, who have had anal sex with new or multiple partners in the last three months. The fact that British rules now asses the safety of donation on an individualised basis, rather than excluding an entire marginalised group, is a large step for inclusivity. Therefore, this recent legal change has been a huge positive, for both donations and the queer
community at large.
Overall, I maintain that donating blood is of utmost medical importance within society. If able to, as many people as possible should be able to help their community and be free to donate. The 2021 change in eligibility rules was a key step in not only increasing blood donations but also reducing the stigmatisation and misinformation about HIV in the UK.
“Please give blood” by HowardLake is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.