Stockholm – Starting March 1, 2010, Sweden will lift its ban on gay blood donors, this was said in a statement issued by the country’s National Board of Health and Welfare on World Aids Day. This aligns the country with other European states such as Spain and Italy where gay and bisexual men were already allowed to be a blood donor.
Even though the ban will be lifted, this will not result in allowing all gay men to donate blood as donations will only be allowed when you haven’t had sex with another man for at least a year, national health authorities said Tuesday.
Officials at the Swedish national health agency confirmed that sexual orientation will no longer determine whether a person can give blood or not. Instead, people who engaged in so-called sexually risky behaviour can be barred for one year.
People who want to donate blood will have to fill in a detailed form about their health and sexual history before being approved as donors and all donated blood will be tested before being used, a spokeswoman for the health agency revealed.
“Men who have had sex with men will no longer be permanently barred from donating blood,” the National Board of Health and Welfare said in a statement released on World AIDS Day.
Sexual orientation will no longer determine whether a person can give blood. Instead, people who have engaged in “sexually risky behavior” can be barred as donors for one year.
“That group includes men who have sex with men,” the agency said.
Donors have to fill in a detailed form about their health, including their sexual history, before being approved as donors. All donated blood is then tested before being used, a spokeswoman for the health board, Monica Axelsson, said.
According to Axelsson, a number of other countries in Europe have already lifted bans on gay blood donors Homosexuals are considered to be a group at higher risk of having blood contaminated with sexually-transmitted diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis.
So, to go one step further, I had to look up the recent statistics. According to the Center for Disease Control’s most current, up-to-date statistics on STD’s: It appears that gay men who have sex with other gay men are Not responsible for increased cases of Chlamydia or Gonorrhea. The case rates of Syphilis is 45% higher in gay men, but the others? Teenage girls. I hope the “Ban on Teenage Girls Donating Blood” takes effect, worldwide . . . and Soon!
Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis
In 2008, there were more than 1.5 million total cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea reported to CDC — making them the two most commonly reported infectious diseases in the United States. Adolescent girls and young women are especially hard hit by these two diseases. The largest number of reported cases of both chlamydia and gonorrhea in 2008 was among girls between 15 and 19 years of age, followed closely by young women 20 to 24 years of age. This likely reflects a combination of factors, including biological differences that place females at greater risk for STDs than males, as well as higher STD screening rates among young women.
Syphilis — a disease once on the verge of elimination — began re-emerging as a public health threat in 2001. This is primarily because of a resurgence of the disease among men who have sex with men (MSM), though cases among women have also been increasing in recent years.
Chlamydia
Populations Most Affected
Women, especially young and minority women, are hardest hit by chlamydia. In 2008, girls 15 to 19 years of age had the highest numbers of reported cases (342,875) and rates of chlamydia (3,275.8 per 100,000 females), followed closely by young women 20 to 24 years of age (323,696 cases; 3,179.9 cases per 100,000 females). Studies also show that women are most severely affected by the long-term health consequences of untreated chlamydia, including infertility.
In recent years, following the expanded availability of less invasive urine testing for chlamydia, men are getting tested with increased frequency, resulting in an increase of 45 percent in the chlamydia rate among men between 2004 and 2008. While the overall rate of reported chlamydia among men is lower than among women, CDC estimates that the actual overall prevalence of chlamydia is similar among men and women.
Gonorrhea
Populations Most Affected
For the eighth consecutive year, gonorrhea rates among women and men were similar. In 2008, the gonorrhea rate among women was 119.4 cases per 100,000 population, compared to 103.0 among men. Gonorrhea rates in 2008 continued to be highest among adolescent girls and young women. In 2008, girls 15 to 19 years of age and young women 20 to 24 years of age had the highest rates of gonorrhea (636.8 and 608.6 cases per 100,000 females, respectively).
Syphilis
Populations Most Affected
The majority of reported syphilis cases in the United States continues to be among men who have sex with men (MSM). In 2008, data from the District of Columbia and the 44 states that track the gender of sex partners of those infected with syphilis showed that 63 percent of P&S syphilis cases were among MSM, compared to only 4 percent of cases in 2000. This is of particular concern, since MSM are also most heavily affected by HIV, and syphilis infection can facilitate HIV transmission.7
While P&S syphilis rates remain substantially lower among women than men, rates among women have increased each year since 2004, following more than a decade of declines. In 2008, the syphilis rate among women increased 36 percent from the previous year (1.1 cases per 100,000 females in 2007 vs. 1.5 in 2008).
Rates of congenital syphilis (transmission from mother to infant) remained stable between 2007 and 2008, following two years of increases. There were 431 reported cases of congenital syphilis in 2008 (10.1 cases per 100,000 live births).
