We are a broad alliance of national associations, non-profit organizations, and charities that share a deep concern over Canada’s discriminatory blood donation ban.

Our collective voice is raised through the All Blood is Equal Coalition – a national campaign to end prejudiced blood and plasma donation policies.

Since June of this year, campaign supporters have already sent 10,000 emails urging you to take action.

But their calls have gone unanswered.

Each year, thousands of willing blood donors in Canada are turned away because of their identity. Prospective donors who are two-spirit, gay, bisexual and queer men, trans women, and men who have sex with men (2SGBTQ/MSM) are barred from giving blood unless they meet the arcane and unjust criteria of having been abstinent for three months.

Canada’s national blood supply has long faced a critical shortage. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for blood products has never been greater. Over 90 per cent of men who have sex with men would donate blood if Canada changed its policies. But rather than screening potential donors through a scientific lens and on a case-by-case basis, Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec continue to use outdated, prejudiced policies which needlessly limit our national donor pool and blood inventory.

We acknowledge that this policy has evolved over time. What was once a lifetime ban has become a three-month deferral period. But the reality remains as such: it is inherently discriminatory to rely on sexual orientation and gender expression or identity as eligibility criteria. The idea that 2SGBTQ/MSM blood poses a unique public health risk is an archaic, harmful assumption that is not reflective of scientific realities and the values of a modern Canada.

Rather than eliminate an entire base of potential donors based on their sexuality, Canada must shift towards a gender-neutral screening process that examines behaviour and risk.  By asking the same questions to everyone, we can keep our blood supply safe while allowing an entirely new pool of donors to contribute to the system. This position has been endorsed by scientists and medical professionals alike – and represents the current view of the Canadian Medical Association.

Examples throughout the world demonstrate that lifting identity-based restrictions is a safe and productive measure to boost national donor pools. Italy lifted its ban in 2001, instead shifting to a person-by-person risk assessment, and has seen no significant increase in HIV prevalence among blood donors. Other OECD countries which have shifted towards similar policies include Latvia, Mexico, Poland, Spain and Chile.

Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Quebec continue to assert that more research must be conducted before eliminating the deferral period. But the research is there. Millions of dollars in research from Health Canada has resulted in multiple studies which provide the evidence necessary to support policy change.

The time has come for action.

All Canadians deserve the opportunity to partake in the time-honoured tradition of blood donation, with screening provisions based on science rather than prejudice.

It’s time to end Canada’s discriminatory blood donation ban.

SIGNED:

For media inquiries: press@allbloodisequal.ca