Latest news with #SkyeMcGregor
ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
Thousands from LGBTQI+ and sex worker communities can now donate plasma
Thousands of members of the LGBTQI+ and sex worker communities can now donate plasma in Australia without having to wait three months from the last time they had sex. On Monday, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood removed most wait time restrictions for gay and bisexual men, transgender people, sex workers and those on the common HIV prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This change means an estimated 625,000 additional Australians are now eligible to donate plasma. Often referred to as the "liquid gold" part of blood, plasma is used to treat more than 50 medical conditions. During the HIV crisis in the 1980s, Australia introduced an indefinite ban on men who have sex with men from donating blood and plasma in order to prevent transmission through blood transfusion. Skye McGregor from the Kirby Institute said this was in part due to the lengthy time it took to confirm if HIV was present in test results. "To have no deferral now around sexual activity through the plasma pathway is really significant," Dr McGregor said. Other factors such as a 33 per cent drop in HIV diagnoses since 2014, and increased sensitivity of HIV tests — which can detect an infection within a week — have also contributed to the lifting of restrictions. "Whilst these changes were necessary in the past to ensure that blood safety, we also know that they did contribute to stigma within particularly the gay and bisexual community," Lifeblood chief executive officer Stephen Cornelissen said. From July 14, people in these previously restricted groups can donate plasma immediately, regardless of sexual activity. The only exception is for those who've recently had sex with a partner known to have HIV or another blood-borne virus. "It's a beautiful moment," Joshua Smith said, who donated for the first time on Monday. "Blood and plasma donations was one of the last things it felt like gay and bisexual people and trans communities were excluded from. Fellow donor Kane Wheatley added: "It's one of those things that you spend your whole life thinking this is just not going to get across the line, and when it does it feels really nice to be able to be here to support it, normalise it for people as well." Lifeblood estimates an additional 625,000 Australians may now be eligible to donate plasma. It is hoping for 24,000 new donors and 95,000 additional donations a year. The next step is for gay, bisexual and other members of the LGBTQI+ community to be able to donate what's known as "whole blood", not just plasma. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has recently approved a gender-neutral risk assessment for blood and platelet donations, which is the first step in the process. This means everyone — regardless of gender or sexual orientation — will be asked if they have had sex (excluding oral sex) with a new or more than one partner in the past six months. If they answer yes, they will be asked whether this included having anal sex in the past three months. Anyone who answers yes will be deferred from donating blood for six months, but will be able to donate plasma. This means gay and bisexual men in long-term, monogamous relationships will be able to donate whole blood without abstaining from sex. This change will be implemented sometime next year, Adjunct Professor Cornelissen said. Let Us Give, a campaign to ensure equality when it comes to blood donation, welcomed the change to giving plasma but said the whole blood rules remain "discriminatory" as they stand currently. Spokesperson Rodney Croome said policy should centre on "the safety of a donor's sexual activity rather than the gender of their sexual partner". He said an approach change like this would "open up a new source of safe blood for those in need and remove discrimination from Australia's blood collection system". Those who have recently had sex with a partner known to have HIV or another blood-borne virus will still be unable to donate blood or plasma. There are also restrictions that prevent people taking some medications, those who have medical conditions such as MS or cancer, people who are pregnant or less than nine months postpartum, and those who have recently undergone surgery from making donations. The rule preventing people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 from donating in Australia was lifted in July 2022.
ABC News
11-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Women living with HIV no longer a priority group, despite higher risks of late diagnosis and lack of specialised support
Women living with HIV are calling on medical professionals to normalise HIV testing for women and increase access to support services in regional areas, amid concerns they have been de-prioritised by the health sector. Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, spreads through bodily fluids and attacks the body's immune system, increasing a patient's viral load. It can be treated with medications that reduce and suppress the viral load, meaning the virus no longer poses a risk to a person's health and cannot be transmitted. But getting treatment begins with diagnosis. New data from the University of New South Wales's (UNSW) Kirby Institute shows over half of the women living with HIV in the Northern Territory and Western Australia were diagnosed late, years after experiencing a deterioration of their health. Nationally, 38 per cent of women living with the virus are diagnosed late. Skye McGregor, an epidemiologist at the Kirby Institute specialising in HIV surveillance and research, said women were much more likely to experience late diagnosis of HIV. She said it could mean someone was unknowingly living with HIV for years, to a point the virus could have seriously damaged their body. In the 1990s, Del Batton had only heard of HIV in passing. "Like many people, I always understood it basically was a gay disease and never considered I might be at risk," the NT resident said. As a busy working mother with a young daughter, it was only when she began the process of IVF that she was tested for the first time. "The first thing they do when you set out to do IVF is they do a raft of blood tests," she said. "They came back and said 'you have tested positive for HIV'. "I went sort of, 'wow'." Despite battling a month of illness a year before her diagnosis, she said her doctor had not considered a HIV test at the time. "Why would he?" Ms Batton said. "I was happily married, had a four-year-old daughter and was trying to have a second child." Almost 20 years on, HIV researchers say the primary routine HIV screening for women is still through antenatal care in pregnancy. Now an advocate, Ms Batton said reasons women were typically diagnosed late included medical professionals' biases around the virus and women having less access than men to information. Last year, the ninth national HIV strategy removed women as a priority group for HIV elimination strategies instead grouping them under 'All people living with HIV'. Dr McGregor said while there were higher rates of HIV in gay and bisexual men, women living with HIV faced unique risks that were not being sufficiently addressed. She said the lack of testing for women meant their rates of HIV had not decreased as much as it had for men. "At a 10-year timeframe we can see that among men, there's been a 36 per cent decrease in HIV diagnosis in this time versus only a 6 per cent decrease among women," she said. Dr McGregor said women were also under-represented in HIV research, which had impacted the quality of health information available to them. "We have a lot of work to do around stigma and discrimination," she said. "HIV is still a stigmatised infection, and we need to work further as a society to understand that this really prevents people from getting tested." Jane Costello was diagnosed with HIV more than 20 years ago. She now runs one of Australia's largest support networks for people living with the virus, Positive Living NSW, which provides women-focused support groups. The groups provide support to women living with HIV in areas like reproductive health, dating, pregnancy and menopause. The NT has recently taken steps towards starting a women's focused support group, but Ms Batton said it was often difficult to get funding. Women in other regional and remote areas are also hoping to start groups, but cash flow into HIV support organisations across Australia has run low in recent years. Ms Costello and Ms Batton are both calling for more funding for HIV support services for women, and more targeted awareness campaigns. "If we normalise testing, it will make this just seem like a routine part of healthcare," Ms Costello said. Ms Batton just wanted women to know a HIV diagnosis was not the end of their lives.
