Argentina lifts gay, bisexual blood ban

By John Mack Freeman

In an encouraging move towards embracing actual health science and medicine, Argentina has lifted its ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. The health ministry announced that the current ban is being relaxed. Via PinkNews:

The official statement from the ministry said the plan was to “advance towards a national blood system that is safe, caring and inclusive”, as well as to “end a long history of institutional discrimination against the LGBT community.”

Campaigners have pushed the ministry to address the issue of the blood ban for over fifteen years.

The new measure also hops to educate people about risky behaviours, and to move away from blanket bans on specific groups.

This rule change appears to have no intermediary steps, such as the new rules in the UK and US that block men from giving for one year after they have had sex with another man.

Advocacy for this change continues to grow around the world. A new PSA from Canada has been released with the tagline “There’s no such thing as gay blood.” Watch it below:

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