The Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) has agreed to lift the ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM).
Instead, MSMs will be allowed to donate blood if it has been at least 12 months since their last sexual contact with another man.
Swiss Transfusion SRC Inc. expects to implement the modified donation criteria for MSMs in regional blood transfusion services starting in mid-2017.
However, Swissmedic’s decision is subject to certain conditions.
Specifically, blood transfusion services will have to record additional data on the effects of the modified donation criteria and donors’ compliance with them, as well as closely monitor the risk trend.
Swissmedic said that, since January 2016, the tests for specific pathogens in donated blood in Switzerland have been further refined, resulting in a higher level of sensitivity.
The diagnostic window—the period in which any infections carried by blood donors cannot yet be discovered—for the relevant pathogens has been further narrowed. Depending on the virus, the diagnostic window is 3 days to 15 days after infection.
Therefore, Swissmedic believes that a 12-month deferral period for MSM blood donors would not expose recipients of blood transfusions to an increased risk of contracting a blood-borne infection.
Swissmedic noted that approximately half of all new HIV infections in Switzerland are attributable to MSMs. This is one of the reasons MSMs have been permanently excluded from giving blood since 1977.
The new 12-month deferral period for MSMs is in line with the precautionary measures applicable to various other behaviors that have been shown to increase the risk of HIV transmission, such as changing sexual partners, staying in countries with a high AIDS rate, and sexual contact with partners who have stayed in countries with a high AIDS rate for a lengthy period.
The change to a 1-year deferral period for MSM blood donors brings Switzerland into line with other nations that have adopted similar policies, such as Ireland, Canada, the US, and the UK.
