“The important thing is, without us having to do anything to address our own biases, we have found a solution.” “Look I don’t want to say who messed up or who systematically discriminated against who,” added Hoff. But now that the number of MSM who haven’t had sex in over 3 months and can therefore donate has increased dramatically, Canadian Blood Services is ready to move on and not talk about how the ban was left in place for decades unnecessarily.
The ban was introduced due to concerns that MSM blood has higher rates of HIV, and has been sustained despite the fact that all blood is tested before being administered and the clear evidence that assessing individuals for risky lifestyles is far more effective at preventing exposure than just imposing a blanket ban on a group of people.
