Australia to Expand Individual Donor Assessment to Blood Donation in April

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood will expand blood donor eligibility in the country effective April 20, replacing gender-based sexual activity questions from the pre-donation questionnaire with individual donor assessment.

The expansion will enable more people to donate blood, including gay and bisexual men and transgender people who are in long-term monogamous relationships, provided they meet all other eligibility criteria.

Under the new donor eligibility criteria, most individuals in a monogamous relationship of six months or more will be eligible to donate blood. Individuals with new or multiple partners may also be eligible if they have not had anal sex in the three months before donation. Male donors will no longer be asked if they have had sex with another man.

Lifeblood previously expanded donor eligibility for plasma intended for fractionation through the organization’s “Plasma Pathway,” which lifted most sexual activity-related donor deferral criteria. The “Plasma Pathway” allowed many plasma donors that were previously deferred from donation, including sex workers and men who have sex with men, to donate plasma for fractionation without a deferral period if they meet all other eligibility criteria. It also made Australia the first country to permit individuals to donate plasma while taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention.