Rule change means gay and bisexual men can donate plasma without wait times
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here LIVE Rockets activate third country's air defences Sexually active gay and bisexual men will be able to donate plasma under a change in rules by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. Under the previous rules, any gay or bisexual men and transgender women who have sex with men cannot donate blood or plasma if they have had sex in the last three months. But from July 14, Lifeblood will remove most sexual activity with times for plasma donations for gay and bisexual men and transgender women, meaning they can donate plasma at any time. Sexually active gay and bisexual men will be able to donate plasma in a change of rules. (Lifeblood) It means over 100,000 additional people can donate much-needed life-saving plasma, Lifeblood said. "We're excited to be able to welcome more people from across the community into our donor centres from next month," Lifeblood's chief medical officer Dr Jo Pink said. "With more than 600,0000 people estimated to be covered by the previous wait times, we now anticipate an extra 24,000 donors and 95,000 extra donations of plasma to be made each year." They will also accept plasma donations from people taking PrEP, an antiviral taken by people who are HIV-negative that protects them from contracting the illness. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has also approved a submission to remove gender-based sexual activity rules from blood and platelet donation eligibility. The change means all people with a single sexual partner for six months or more will be eligible to donate blood. It means over 100,000 additional people can donate much-needed life-saving plasma, Lifeblood said. (9NEWS) Most people with new or multiple partners will also be able to dontate blood under the new laws, as long as they haven't had anal sex in the past three months. The rule change means men will not be asked if they have had sex with another man but rather everyone will be asked the same questions regardless of their gender or sex. "This is a significant milestone in being able to safely reduce wait times and make it easier for more people in the LGBTQIA+ community to donate," Pink said. "Blood safety is and always will be our top priority, but we know the current donation rules have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community. "While they were put in place to ensure a safe blood supply in the past, we know that they've contributed to the stigma faced by the community. "We hope as we move through the process of seeking to have both these changes introduced, that this will be a turning point for both Lifeblood and the LGBTQIA+ community." People taking PrEP still won't be able to donate blood despite the changes. CONTACT US
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News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Aussie girl Marleigh, 10, talks to A Current Affair about new blood donation rules
A 10-year old Australian girl who relies on blood donations to stay alive says she has a better chance at life from new rules that allow gay and bisexual men and transgender women to donate plasma. Mum Kate told A Current Affair her daughter Marleigh relies on blood donations because of an incurable condition that is potentially fatal and has no cure. Kate fought for years to have the rules changed in Australia that would allow more people to donate lifesaving plasma. Kate said Marleigh suffered seizures that lasted up to almost 40 hours and their gay male friends were heartbroken they could not donate blood when the young girl was at her sickest. 'Her immune system is wrongly identifying her healthy brain cells as foreign and attacking her brain,' she said. 'We have so many friends, particularly our gay male friends, who would love to donate for Marleigh. 'All they wanted to do was go and jump in a seat at Lifeblood and donate the blood.' According to Lifeblood, earlier rules prevented gay and bisexual men and transgender women from donating blood or plasma if they had sex with men in the past three months. Lifeblood will remove most sexual activity wait times for plasma donations from July 14, which means most people, and anyone who takes pre-exposure prophylaxis that meets other eligibility criteria, will be able to donate plasma. The lifesaving organisation expects an extra 24,000 Australians will be able to give about 95,000 donations of plasma each year. Lifeblood chief medical officer Jo Pink said with plasma now the donation type most needed by Australian patients, the change came at an important time. 'We're excited to be able to welcome more people from across the community into our donor centres from next month,' she said. Dr Pink said the Therapeutic Goods Administration was also in the process of approving their submission to remove gender-based sexual activity rules, which means all donors will be asked the same rules about their sexual activity. She said their submission to change rules for blood donation included data that showed a six month wait was the safest option for Australian patients. 'But we are committed to reviewing this as more evidence becomes available,' she said. 'There are many steps that Lifeblood needs to take before we can implement the new gender-neutral assessments, including working with state and territory governments to change the donor questionnaire. 'We hope to be able to implement this part of the changes next year. 'Blood safety is and always will be our top priority but we know the current donation rules have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community. 'While they were put in place to ensure a safe blood supply in the past, we know that they've contributed to the stigma faced by the community.' Health Equity Matters chief executive officer Dash Heath-Paynter said he welcomed this change that could unlock thousands of donations of lifesaving plasma. 'While there is still more work, the Therapeutic Goods Administration's approval for gender neutral assessments for blood donation is welcomed,' he said. 'In terms of plasma donations, these changes mean Australia's regulations are world-leading.' Kirby Institute head of global health program John Kaldor said Lifeblood had developed pragmatic and innovative new procedures for blood donations with scientific evidence that shifted societal expectations.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Australia's TGA issues interim report to remove supplements high in B6 from shelves as toxicity cases rise
Major changes have been proposed to restrict access to a common over-the-counter vitamin, linked to a growing number of poisoning cases. Vitamin B6 — often listed as pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine — is present in thousands of products in Australia as an additive, including medicines, multivitamin and mineral supplements, energy drinks and weight loss shakes. 174 reports of peripheral neuropathy, peripheral sensory neuropathy, small fibre neuropathy or chronic polyneuropathy for products containing B6 have been reported to the medicines' regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), though medical practitioners predict the true number is significantly higher. "While most of them have no side effects, if you are taking large doses of B6 your risk of peripheral neuropathy goes up." "We know that reported cases of peripheral neuropathy are a massive underestimate of the problem in the community, because so many people are unaware that that vitamins can cause these symptoms." In a new development to improve public safety, several recommendations have been handed down in a report penned by a senior TGA medical officer known as 'the delegate'. Called the 'Interim Decision', the report acts on the advice of the government's Advisory Committee on Medicines Scheduling. Most notably, it calls for the TGA to reclassify supplements containing more than 50mg of B6 as Schedule 3 (Pharmacist Only), by February 2027. The move would affect around 100 products, requiring pharmacists to first speak with consumers before approving a purchase. "Currently, preparations providing up to 200 mg of [B6] ... are available for self-selection without any professional guidance or oversight," the report states, adding "almost 80 per cent of these products provide a dose of more than 2 mg/day, which is above the RDI for pyridoxine, pyridoxal or pyridoxamine. "The daily requirement of vitamin B6 can be easily obtained from the usual Australian diet, and the use of supplemental vitamin B6 provides limited benefit except in people who have a clinically diagnosed vitamin B6 deficiency. A TGA spokesperson told 7.30 the decision, if implemented, "will reduce the maximum amount of vitamin B6 allowed in oral products than currently available for general sale". "The interim decision balances the risks and benefits of using vitamin B6 including the risk of peripheral neuropathy, acknowledging its potential for irreversible harm at higher doses and variability in individual metabolism," the spokesperson said. But, as detailed in the report, the proposed changes only account for around seven per cent of supplements containing B6 — there are more than 1,500 vitamins listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, the majority of which are unscheduled and available over the counter. The report also recommended supplements exceeding 200mg should be reclassified as prescription medicines or 'schedule 4'. "It's a good thing that pharmacists will be able to have a really good counselling session with a patient, to make sure the item they're taking doesn't interact with other medications," said Caroline Diamantis, vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. "People used to think that complimentary medicines were completely safe but the more we delve into it the more we understand they do have unwanted side-effects or interference with other medications," she told 7.30. The interim decision also recommends tightening labelling rules, calling for clearer identification of vitamin B6 on packaging and stronger warnings to help consumers avoid accidental overexposure. "Use of ingredient names in labelling is inconsistent and confusing for consumers … and not always described as vitamin B6," the report said. "Of concern is that there are several products on the market where the front of the label provides no indication that vitamin B6 is an ingredient." It suggested changing the language on warning labels to be more direct. "Excess consumption of vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage. Stop use and see a doctor if you experience tingling, burning or numbness," was a suggestion. The report also calls on the multi-billion-dollar complementary medicines sector to take greater responsibility for educating consumers and reducing the risk of vitamin B6 overexposure, noting current labelling places too much burden on consumers to calculate total B6 intake. "Estimating the total daily vitamin B6 intake … is likely to be beyond the health literacy capability of the typical consumer," it said. The CEO of Complementary Medicines Australia John O'Doherty told 7.30: "we'll be carefully reviewing the interim decision and the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Medicines Scheduling." Mr O'Doherty argued adverse events relating to the use of vitamin B6 are "extremely rare". "Based on a comparison of sales data with the TGA's public Database of Adverse Events, the chance of a reaction is less than one in half a million — this is extremely rare," he said. However, previous 7.30 investigations have found dozens of Australians have had issues from B6 toxicity, with many only becoming aware of their illness after seeing our reports. The TGA delegate also warns the prevalence could be much higher. "The true rate of occurrence of an adverse event cannot be determined from spontaneous adverse event reporting systems due to both general under-reporting and a lack of usage data," its report read. "A low number of spontaneous adverse event reports cannot be considered evidence of the absence a safety issue." Mr O'Doherty however agreed with some of the labelling recommendations, telling 7.30 his organisation has "been calling on the TGA to implement changes that allow labels and advertising to use terminology and ingredient names that consumers better understand." "At CMA's request, this is now under internal review at the TGA", he said. Medical negligence lawyer Nick Mann said the interim decision is a "small step in the right direction" but argued the TGA "can and should" go further. Mr Mann told 7.30 his legal firm, Polaris, is pursuing a class action lawsuit against one of the largest companies in the complementary medicines industry, Blackmores, "as a matter of public interest and safety". "We continue to investigate the potential class action, and given the response, the support and the evidence that's been pouring in ... with over 140 people contacting us to date," Mr Mann said. "Each of them had heartbreaking stories about how their lives have been affected by B6 toxicity, and sadly, many of them continue to be affected long after ceasing supplements containing Vitamin B6. "We've also had at least 10 doctors contact us to tell us about their own experiences with B6, and to let us know that they have discovered B6 toxicity in several of their patients, after taking supplements containing higher than the RDI of the vitamin over weeks and months," he said. The interim decision recommends the changes be made by 1 February 2027 — offering an 18-month implementation period. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
PNG declares national HIV crisis
Andy Park: Papua New Guinea has declared a national HIV crisis with the number of new cases increasing by almost 50% in the last decade. PNG correspondent Marion Faa has the story. Marian Faa: Living as a transgender woman in Papua New Guinea, discrimination is part of Nancy's everyday life. Nancy: Papua New Guinea, like PNG, they still have this thing that, I mean if you're a man, you're a man and they don't really, like it's a male or a female, it's just one gender. Marian Faa: But when she was diagnosed with HIV 10 years ago, the stigma doubled. Nancy: I felt hopeless. I just felt like that was the end of my life, yeah, and it really affected me mentally. Marian Faa: Nancy is now healthier than ever thanks to the antiretroviral medication she takes regularly. That's not the case for many. Of the 120,000 people estimated to have HIV in PNG, less than half are accessing medication. And there's concern about a dramatic increase in new infections. Ken Wai is the National Health Secretary in PNG. Ken Wai: The biggest worry is we don't want to run the risk of increasing these numbers. Marian Faa: In the past decade, the number of new cases has nearly doubled from around 6,000 per year in 2015 to 11,000 last year. If the trend continues, Mr Wai says the whole country will suffer. Ken Wai: Then we are going to buy HIV medicine only and then we will run out of money to buy TB drugs and malaria drugs and typhoid drugs and diarrhoea drugs and every others. Marian Faa: He says the PNG government is doing its bit. Ken Wai: Government does not fail in providing money to buy HIV medicines. For the last five years, seven years, we've never run out of HIV medicines and we've never run out of HIV testing reagents. Marian Faa: But UNAIDS, the United Nations HIV prevention arm, says the health department could be doing more. Manoela Manova is the UNAIDS country director in PNG. Manoela Manova: The need for controlling the epidemic is huge, it's enormous and it is estimated to cost 280 million per year. It requires resources and our call is for the government at least to match and to allocate double the amount that is currently allocated. Marian Faa: In PNG, authorities say it'll take a concerted effort from individuals, donors and the government to get things under control. They're urging individuals to practice safe sex, use condoms and get regular health checks. Andy Park: Marion Faa there.
