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The MSM blood donor controversy in the United Kingdom refers to the former deferral policy of men who have had sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom who wish to donate their blood to UK blood donation services (NHS Blood and Transplant in England, the Welsh Blood Service in Wales, Scotblood in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service in Northern Ireland). Since June 2021, there is no deferral period in all four home nations. This followed an announcement in December 2020 that blood donation policies specific to MSM would be scrapped in favour of personalised risk assessment based on sexual behaviour.[1]
The UK blood donation services had previously argued that a deferral policy was necessary in order to protect public health and minimise the spread of blood-borne sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV. The policy was adopted based on the scientific advice of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs and was kept under regular review, with the advisory committee advising that the policy was scrapped in December 2020.[1] The policy was criticised as being discriminatory towards gay men, and the deferral was opposed by groups such as the LGBT campaign of the NUS and Stonewall.
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