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Reevaluating Canada’s policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM)

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Abstract

During the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, most of the developed world instituted a permanent ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). In recent years, public health agencies across Europe and North America are reconsidering and rescinding these restrictions. We examine the Canadian climate, where MSM may donate blood only after a 5-year deferral period. We review circumstances of the initial ban on MSM blood donations and recent social, legal, and economic changes that have encouraged Canadian public health officials to consider policy reform. We also review international evidence about the impact of reforming MSM blood donations. Given improvements in HIV screening technology, results from mathematical modeling studies, and empirical data from Italy, the UK, and Australia, we conclude that changing Canada’s MSM blood donation policy from a 5- to a 1-year deferral would not increase the number of transfusion-transmitted HIV infections. We provide empirical support to the recently elected Liberal Canadian government’s political promise to decrease restrictions on MSM blood donations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Kelly Lau, Emily Hodgson, Emily Reynen, Kim Engler, and Christos Karatzios for their feedback and suggestions, and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) for their support.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine, 1414 Chomedey, Montreal, QC, H3H0A2, Canada

      Bellal Jubran, Maxime Billick, Gabriel Devlin & Jeremy Cygler

    2. Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada

      Bertrand Lebouché

    3. Chronic Viral Illness Service, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada

      Bertrand Lebouché

    4. Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

      Bertrand Lebouché

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    1. Bellal Jubran
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    2. Maxime Billick
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    Correspondence to Bellal Jubran.

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    Bellal Jubran, Maxime Billick, Gabriel Devlin, and Jeremy Cygler have contributed equally to this paper.

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    Jubran, B., Billick, M., Devlin, G. et al. Reevaluating Canada’s policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). J Public Health Pol 37, 428–439 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-016-0032-1

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