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No gay blood in South Africa
Advocate, The, Feb 28, 2006
Most of the approximately 5 to 6 million people infected with HIV in South Africa--the largest HIV-positive population in any country--are straight. But that hasn't stopped the South African National Blood Services from singling out gay men for a blood ban.
In a January 12 statement blood bank chief Robert Crookes said men who have had sex with men in the five years prior are no longer allowed to donate blood due to the risk of transmitting HIV. He said the policy is based on "international practice," including a Food and Drug Administration ban on blood from gays in the United States.
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Several local gay rights groups have been protesting the new policy, saying most of the country's HIV patients are straight women. "We feel very strongly that they are discriminating against the gay community," said Marlow Valentine of Triangle Project, a South African gay rights group. "It is known that unprotected anal sex is higher risk for transmission, but it is a myth that all gay men practice it. It has also come to light that many heterosexual men practice unprotected anal sex."
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