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Blood donation ban for men who have slept with men

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Silvery, Feb 22, 2009.

  1. joacqin

    joacqin Confused Jerk Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Heh, I brought up earlier that you can't trust the questionaires anyway so the testing needs to be very secure no matter what. You think a person will not lie about being gay but will lie about having unprotected sex? Are we not stretching it a bit now? It does not make me happier but looking at who and how people have argued in this thread I am quite convinced that the security of the blood supply does not have much to do with it. I have said my piece however so I will let it rest.
     
  2. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    I personally don't think the blood supply should be jeopardized for any reason. Donating blood is not a civil-rights issue, it is a health issue. I personally think anyone engaging in promiscuity with either sex* should be banned from blood donation, but that's me. I'm sorry some gay (and occasionally gay) men may feel discriminated against in this case, and I understand why they would. But if they want to contribute to their community's healthcare options, there are other areas where they can contribute.

    * I don't think that gays are significantly more likely to lie about engaging in unprotected sex than straight people are, especially these days . But even if they are, straight people do have unsafe sex in significant enough numbers that I believe promiscuous people of any stripe should be considered an unnecessary risk to the blood supply.
     
    LKD likes this.
  3. joacqin

    joacqin Confused Jerk Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Which was my point, you could easily shape the question in such a way as to ask whether you engage in promiscuos behaviour there really is no point in asking as to who you have had or not had promimiscuos sex with.
     
  4. Silvery

    Silvery I won't pretend to be your friend coz I'm just not ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    I think that I should have been clearer in my original thread.

    It's not the fact that the ban is there that annoys me. I've worked in the Healthcare industry long enough to be able to see the arguments for it. The thing that bugs me is more the way that ban is structured. As DR said, nothing should risk contaminating the blood supply yet there are groups that aren't excluded that really should be.

    I still believe that turning people away because of there sexuality is wrong when there is a blood shortage. However, STD's in the straight community are on the up. So, if people are having unprotected sex and catching these things then it's not going to be long before HIV rates match up.

    Personally, I think that the ban should be based on a sexual health questionnaire. Somebody who has had a bout of the clap recently should be banned as the chances are that they are having unprotected sex and are putting themselves into a 'high risk' catagory
     
  5. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I certainly agree with that... the only point here is to safeguard the blood and minimize the potential for tainted blood to enter the system (or even get to the point of wasting money on testing blood that doesn't come out clean).
     
  6. Tekee Gems: 1/31
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    I read in a free gay newspaper handed around my city that Russia stopped its ban on gay blood donations.
    I am sure it is because most people who have HIV in Russia are drug addicts so they are still banned but gays in Russia have less AIDS then in Canada or America?
    I don't think it is because of any gay agenda or pro-gay victory. It is just cost-benefit analysts.
     
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