Canadian Blood Services expands eligibility for some gay men to donate plasma at certain clinics

Clinics in Calgary and London will now accept plasma donations from men who have sex with men, who meet screening criteria, Canadian Blood Services says.

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has expanded the eligibility for some men who have sex with men to donate plasma at its Calgary and London, Ont., donation clinics.

In these two cities, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men can donate plasma — the yellowish liquid in which blood cells are suspended — if they have not had a new sexual partner in the last three months, and their current sexual partner has not had sex with anyone else in that time, CBS said in a release Tuesday.

This is slightly more permissive than the current guidelines for blood donation. Under those, men are only able to donate blood if their last sexual contact with a man was more than three months previously.

The locations were chosen because they can accept plasma donations, which not all clinics do, and because of existing relationships between Canadian Blood Services and local LGBTQ2 organizations in those regions, a CBS spokesperson told Global News.

Canadian Blood Services describes this as “a step forward” toward more inclusive donations. The organization has previously promised that they will request that Health Canada remove the waiting period for men who have sex with men and move to behaviour-based screening for all donors by the end of the year.

The new plasma donation process for this group of donors isn’t straightforward. Canadian Blood Services says it is required by Health Canada to impose a 60-day hold on all plasma donations from men who have sex with men.

What this means is that a new donor who passes screening will leave a plasma donation at the clinic. This sample will be tested for a variety of blood-borne diseases including syphilis, Hepatitis B and C, and HIV. Then, at least 60 days later, he may return to provide a second donation. At that time, if the second donation also tests negative, both plasma samples will be sent along for processing and to be turned into products that can be used by hospitals.

Each subsequent donation by this man will then be subject to a 60-day hold before being released for use, Canadian Blood Services spokesperson Catherine Lewis told Global News.