According to the Ministry of Health, blood donations from donors attracted to same-sex couples will be simplified from mid-year. Gay men, meanwhile, can only donate blood after six months of sexual abstinence. The Czech Republic is one of the few countries where homosexual men are practically unable to be free blood donors.
Donors must complete a questionnaire before each donation. People are temporarily or permanently excluded from donating blood for a number of reasons. Surgery, tattoos, a stint in a correctional facility, or sex between men can put a six-month stop on donors. This de facto excludes all gay men from donating blood. New decrees are to change this from this July.
"One is approved, and that means more modern blood testing against viral diseases," explains Ondřej Jakob, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health. "It provides for more accurate testing of donors for blood-borne infections using PCR methods. After blood testing, we will have a greater degree of certainty," says Miloš Bohoněk, head of the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion at the ÚVN Prague.
Along with more modern testing, the second decree will also modify the questionnaires and recommendations for donors. The forms should no longer be discriminatory.
"Excluding someone from donating blood on the basis of sexual orientation alone is discriminatory according to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Yet, unfortunately, this has often been the case with gay people. Now that is changing," reminds the Chair of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09).
According to the chairman of the Society for Transfusion Medicine, Petr Turek, the final form of the decree is still being discussed. He believes it is important to prioritise the safety of recipients.
Vlastimil Válek - Minister of Health of the Czech Republic
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