In a historic move, Canada announced Wednesday it will be lifting a nearly 30-year ban on blood donations from gay men.
The new policy, expected to come into effect this summer, will allow gay men to give blood, so long as they haven’t had sex with other men in the five years before the donation.
The Red Cross introduced the ban in the mid-1980s in response to the alarming rise of AIDS, which could be contracted through blood transfusions.
With the reversal of the ban, Canada follows in the footsteps of other countries like Australia, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom that now allow blood donations from gay men with strict conditions attached – gay men can only donate blood if they haven’t had sex with other men for a period of time.
Canada and New Zealand require deferral periods of five years – the longest in the world. South Africa has the shortest deferral period of just six months.
Some countries – like Chile, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain and Uruguay – have no ban at all and freely allow blood donations by gay men.
Most countries still ban blood donations from gay men.
