"Karen" has donated blood six times since she was a college
student in 2006, despite the fact that as a lesbian she was banned by Chinese
government from doing so until an amendment to the blood donor health
requirements came into effect on July 1.
"I'm healthy. Sexual
orientation has no relation to blood safety, it just depends on whether you
engage in risky behaviour or not," said the 26-year-old.
Common Language, a
community-based support and rights group for lesbian, bisexual women and people
who are transgender, conducted a survey in 2008 of 21 lesbians and bisexuals.
The result showed that all the interviewees had donated blood and 14 of them
had donated more than twice. Two were initially refused as donors when they
revealed their sexual orientation but when they went to other centres and kept
quiet about their sexuality they were both accepted as donors.
The survey also found that the
blood of only one of the 21 donors could not be used and that was because of
tuberculosis.
Acknowledging that lesbians are
low-risk donors, the Ministry of Health revised the regulation introduced in
2001 that prohibited all homosexuals from giving blood.
However, the regulation still
prohibits gay men from donating blood, along with drug addicts and people with
multiple sexual partners.
"The revised regulation
focuses on actions of donors that might compromise blood safety instead of
highlighting certain groups of people," said Gao Dongying, deputy director
of the Beijing Red Cross Blood Centre.
The Ministry of Health says the
regulations covering blood donations are aimed at protecting recipients of
transfusions from exposure to potentially infected blood and blood products.
Its data indicate that, as a group, men who have sex with men are more likely
to get HIV and other contagious diseases than individuals in other categories.
According to the ministry, about
3 per cent of Chinese men who have sex with other men are HIV positive, a
percentage that is far higher than the average for the population as a whole.
It estimates that in 2011 there were 48,000 new cases in the country and the
virus had been sexually transmitted in 81.6 per cent of these. The proportion
for the period between 1985 and 2005 was only 11.6 per cent.
"Even if we are still
prohibited from donating blood, the revised requirement is better as it focuses
on risky behaviour rather than discriminating against a certain group of
people," said Jiang Hui, who works at the Aibai Culture and Education
Centre in Beijing, which provides support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender people.
"I am happy to see that
lesbians can donate blood legally in the future. It means a lot to homosexuals
and the country," said Karen. "But I will still not admit my sexual
orientation even now lesbians are allowed to donate blood."
In China, all potential blood
donors have to fill in health declaration forms in which they are supposed to
reveal their sexual orientation.
"John" from Hebei
province, is a 27-year-old English teacher in a vocational school in Beijing,
He has donated blood six times altogether since 2006 without revealing he was
gay.
"I'm sure about my health,
and my blood was tested and accepted," he said.
Usually within a week of giving
blood, donors get a message telling them if their donated blood passed health
checks, including HIV screening.
"There are still many people
who are prejudiced against gays. We don't want to reveal our sexual
orientation," he said.
However, under the new amendment,
the forms will inform donors that they are liable for any damages arising from
problems with their blood if they knowingly give false information.
Safety first
Yang Wenling, director of the
Tianjin Blood Centre, said that doctors at the centre are aware that not all
the information given them on the forms is reliable. If they think someone
might be a high-risk donor, they will try to emphasise the importance of blood
safety and ask about the donor's medical history.
"It is difficult to ask
information of donors who are suspected of being gay. It needs skills to get
their real information while preventing them from being hurt," Yang said.
In most cases, doctors will
emphasise to donors the importance of blood safety, and if the donor doesn't do
regular health checks they will suggest they doing a free one in the local
diseases control centre.
Yang said that if the donors were
suspected of belonging to high-risk groups, their blood bag would be marked.
"I think blood safety is
more important than the shortage of blood. We want to encourage more people to
donate blood, but we have to confirm that all the blood is safe," she
said.
China is among 70 countries
worldwide with a blood donation rate of less than 1 per cent of the population,
a rate the World Health Organisation considers to be the minimum requirement.
The average in high-income
countries is about 4 per cent. The number of unpaid donors in China rose from
6.75 million in 2006 to 11.8 million last year, and the volume of blood
increased by more than 30 per cent.
But the demand is still greater
than the supply.
China's first Law on Blood
Donation was enacted in 1998, encouraging all citizens between the ages of 18
and 55 to donate blood.
The latest revision has extended
the maximum age of donors to 60.
Other countries trying to
increase their supplies of donated blood have relaxed their restrictions on gay
men donating blood.
In the United Kingdom, men who
had sex with men were banned from donating blood until 2011, when the blood
donor health requirement was revised so that men who hadn't had sex with men in
the previous 12 months could donate blood. Australia, has a similar
"safety period" of 24 months.
"It will take time for China
to decide whether such a requirement can be used," said Gao from the
Beijing Red Cross Blood Centre.
"But blood safety is not
only about donors it's also about users. Even if there is only one bag of
unsafe blood, it will cause a big tragedy. Blood can save lives, but dangerous blood
can also cost lives. So we cannot take a risk."
Yang Wanli
Tang Yue and Zhang Yuchen
contributed to the story.
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