Isle of Man Plans to Introduce Individual Risk Assessment

Health authorities on the Isle of Man — an island in the Irish Sea — have announced plans to update blood donation rules for men who have sex with men (MSM), the BBC reported recently. MSM are currently deferred indefinitely from giving blood in the island nation and self-governing British Crown Dependency.

In contrast, in the United Kingdom, donors who have had one sexual partner and who have been with that sexual partner for more than 3 months are eligible to donate blood, irrespective of their sexual orientation. The Isle of Man, also known as Mann, plans to update blood testing standards to match those in the United Kingdom by 2023.