TORONTO -- While the Canadian Blood Services implores Canadians to give 鈥渢he greatest gift鈥� as hospital capacities are threatened during the COVID-19 pandemic this holiday season, one MP is continuing a push for a change in eligibility rules that ban some gay men from donating.
Eric Duncan, the first openly gay Conservative MP, told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning that the policies aren鈥檛 only outdated but actively hurt Canadians during an already difficult year.
鈥淚 see Canadian Blood Services out asking for urgent donations right now, particularly during the second wave of COVID-19. There are many gay men in this country who would be eligible if the rules were changed,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 find it personal and it bothers me that Canadian Blood Services is asking for donations, needing it, and rightfully so. We鈥檙e in a challenging time. To have something so evident before us -- a way to right two wrongs here -- to allow more Canadians to support Canadian Blood Services and make donations and also end this stigma. There鈥檚 no reason why this couldn鈥檛 be done.鈥�
The donor eligibility rules, which now require a 鈥渄eferral period鈥� for men who have sex with men but began as an outright ban, have changed in recent years. Still, they don鈥檛 go far enough for Duncan and others who believe the policy should move to a gender-neutral screening process based on sexual behaviour not orientation.
In 2013, Health Canada approved a 鈥渄eferral period鈥� of five years for men who have sex with men to donate, then a one-year deferral period in 2016. Last year, Health Canada approved a request from the Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec to further reduce the ban to three months.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that more changes would come to the policy 鈥�very soon.鈥� That was nearly six months ago. Since then, the resumption of elective surgeries put a worrisome strain on the national blood supply and the COVID-19 pandemic which caused dramatic blood shortages in the spring has now resurged with new lockdowns. At the time, there were close to 10,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in the country and about 8,000 related deaths. As of Dec. 7, deaths neared 13,000 and there were more than 423,000 confirmed cases.
For Duncan and others pushing for a change to blood donor eligibility, the ban is not only cutting off a source to boost supply, it鈥檚 a human rights issue.
鈥淚t鈥檚 discrimination and I think it creates an unfair stigma against men who have sex with men,鈥� Duncan told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 based on an outdated myth from a generation ago.鈥�
Late last month, Duncan pushed Health Minister Patty Hajdu in the House of Commons on why the ban hasn鈥檛 been reversed and if she would accept a blood donation from him. She didn't respond to that question, but emphasized the independence of the non-governmental non-profits Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec and ongoing efforts to fund research that would reverse the ban.
"We have been funding both the Canadian Blood Service and Hema-Quebec鈥� to better understand how to end the blood ban," said Hajdu. "I agree with the member opposite, we need to take stronger steps to ensure they have the research they need."
