Gay And Bisexual Men Are Banned From Donating Plasma To COVID-19 Trials At London Hospital

Gay and bisexual men have been told they cannot donate their plasma to coronavirus trials at London hospitals. Although a potential treatment for COVID-19 using plasma from recovered patients is being trialled at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital, the current Department of Health guidelines state that gay and bisexual men who have had sex with another man in the past three months are excluded from donating their plasma.

The guidelines state: “Men who have sex with men are at an increased risk of acquiring certain infections through sex”, which could then be passed on during a transfusion.

Critical care manager Andy Roberts said he was turned down for the plasma trial due to being in a same-sex relationship, after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Roberts has been in a same-sex relationship for more than 30 years and Mr Roberts' partner Keith Ward stated that he was “very angry”, and did not know about the “outrageous” three-month rule.

“It only goes to show that in the UK being gay is still thought as a form of contamination, so if you’re straight and sleep with a different person every weekend it’s safer,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Transplant service told the ‘Evening Standard’: “We will initially be using the current donor selection guidelines although we will keep this under review. The guidelines are there to protect the health of the donor and the recipient.

“Under the current guidelines, men must wait three months after having oral or anal sex with another man. We appreciate this deferral can feel disappointing if you want to save lives.

“Separately to the convalescent plasma trial, we are working with LGBT+ groups to explore whether we might be able to introduce a more individualised risk assessment for blood donation.”

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Calls To Donate Blood Have Risen Amid Coronavirus Crisis, But FDA Stays Firm On Gay Ban

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