“Blood donations without discrimination” – that is the motto that the federal government has committed to with its latest regulation. Accordingly, homosexual people and other members of the LGBTQ+ community should no longer be excluded from good deeds in the future. It’s just stupid that all people who lead an active sex life could see themselves discriminated against by the “3 × 3” rule just presented.
“Equal” access to blood donation regardless of gender or sexual orientation – that is the goal of the “three times three rule”, which should be binding for everyone in the future. The following applies: Anyone who has had sex with three different partners within the last three months is excluded from donating blood for three months – regardless of whether they are man, woman, hetero, homo, trans or another color of the rainbow.
“We are eliminating unequal treatment that is completely outdated,” Rauch explained. Accordingly, in the future only individual behavior will count and not “who you love or who you are,” said the Minister of Health. The ÖVP, which has repeatedly opposed changes to blood donations in recent years, has also approved the new regulation. In this case, the individual behavior is measured by the “individual “risk behavior”, as Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP) explained: “In the future, individual risk behavior will count when donating blood,” said Plakolm.
According to the government, “risk behavior” is present in people who have had more than three sexual partners in the three months before donating blood. If this applies to you, you will be excluded from donating blood for a certain period of time. In addition, the exclusion period is reduced to three months for persons with risk behavior if a NAT test for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV is negative. According to Rauch, the regulation should apply from autumn and will be evaluated by experts after two years. “Blood products are safe and will remain safe,” Rauch underscored.
Shortly after the ordinance comes into force, the Blood Commission will issue an updated recommendation for the blood donation questionnaires. This takes into account the changeover to individual risk behavior. “What I also think is very important is that in the future we will make blood donors aware of the importance of using safer sex,” said Plakolm.
