The Department of Health has announced as of November 7th, Britain will have the lifetime blood donation ban on any man who has ever had gay sex removed.
In a bid for equality, from November 7th, there will be a one year deferral period where men who have not had gay sex in the last 12 months may donate blood.
Gay rights campaigners believe gay men will still be treated in an unfair manner under the new rules, arguing that heterosexuals who engaged in higher risk sexual activity are not subject to the same discrimination.
All blood is tested for HIV and other diseases, no matter what gender or sexuality, however there is a period of time where new infections are unable to be detected.
The government's Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) has been examining the issue for the last 18 months, and the one-year deferral was chosen partly due to Hepatitis B, which largely affects gay men.
SaBTO considered the risk of infection transmitted through donated blood and improvements in testing of donated blood.
The new change means men who have not had gay sex within the past year will be able to donate blood, should they meet other criteria. However, men who have had anal or oral sex with a man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate.
The ban was put in place after the AIDS crises in the 1980s, as gay and bisexual males have higher rates of HIV.
Though the announcement has generally been welcomed by HIV charities, they have called for further reviews if the rates of Hepatitis B and HIV in gay men fall.
National AIDS Trust, Terrence Higgins Trust and GMFA said in a joint statement: Whilst we are pleased to welcome this rule change for gay men, we will continue to encourage SaBTO to regularly review their restrictions on blood donation related to sexual behaviour (including other groups in addition to gay men). Particularly as the epidemics around blood-borne viruses evolve and scientific evidence changes and advances.
Gay rights charity Stonewall said the announcement was a step in the right direction but has called for donors to be screened on the basis of sexual behaviour of all donors, rather than purely sexual orientation.
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