Gay and bisexual men are being excluded from a plasma trial looking to provide treatment for Covid-19.
Care manager Andy Roberts was turned down for the trial at Guy`s and St Thomas`s hospital in London. Having tested positive for Covid-19, he offered to join the trial. At the end of a twenty minute phone call he was asked about his sexuality. He was told that because he is in a gay relationship he cannot donate plasma. His partner Keith Ward told ITV News “It makes me feel very angry. We have been together in a monogamous relationship for more than thirty years and I previously didn’t know of this outrageous three month rule.” A spokesperson for the NHS Blood and Transfusion service said “Under the current guidelines, men must wait three months after having oral or anal sex with another man” before donating blood products. “We appreciate this deferral can feel disappointing if you want to save lives.”
Keith Ward said “It only goes to show that in the UK being gay is still thought of as a form of contamination, so if you`re straight and sleep with a different person every weekend it safer according to (the rules).”
The trial aims to use plasma from recovered coronavirus patients to treat patients whose bodies are not producing enough antibodies in a procedure known as convalescent plasma. The NHS spokesperson said “Separately to the convalescent plasma trial we are working with LGBT+ groups to explore whether we might be able to introduce a more individualised risk assessment for blood donation.”
Stonewall`s Director of Policy Laura Russell said “it`s really upsetting that gay and bi men who want to help in the fight against coronavirus are being prevented from doing so. The decision on whether people should be able to give blood or plasma should be based on individual risk assessments, not on people`s sexual orientation.”
As well as discriminatory, the exclusion of gay and bi men from the trial makes a mockery of the government`s off stated stance “we`re all in this together.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.