These changes were adapted by blood services in Scotland and Wales and received favourably among HIV and sexual health charities. The policy seeks to re-position perceived risk of HIV and STI exposure to focus on ‘individual circumstances surrounding health, travel and sexual behaviours’.įramed as an ‘inclusive’ health policy, the changes allow donations from individuals who have had the same sexual partner for the last three months or from people who have had casual partners but no anal sex, no known recent exposure to an STI and no recent use of the HIV medicines pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). On 14 June 2021, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) – a health policy body that oversees UK-wide transplant policy and England-specific blood donation services – announced changes to blood donation eligibility, which included a reorientation to focus on sexual practice rather than wholesale sexual identity.
