Meeting of the Parliament 29 November 2016
I join members in congratulating Rona Mackay on bringing this important debate to the chamber.
Quite simply, blood must be available 24/7 throughout Scotland, including in remote areas. However, blood has a very short shelf life and cannot be stockpiled. Every day, therefore, NHS Scotland depends on donors to help to maintain stock levels. As Colin Smyth said, the number of new donors has fallen by 30 per cent in just five years, and less than 4 per cent of the eligible population are active blood donors. It is important to note that funding for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has fallen by 16 per cent since 2010, which I hope the minister will take into account.
We all agree that there is a need to encourage new people to give blood. A whole generation of Scots does not remember the television advert that featured Rowan Atkinson talking to a stone, which I recall seeing as a child; I remember the effect that it had on me and the importance of the matter that it addressed. We now need to think about how we encourage new people to give blood.
On the specific issue that we are debating, I believe that we cannot, when the need for more blood is so critical, afford to exclude any potential donors unjustly. I share the view that members all across the chamber have expressed: that men who have sex with men should not be prevented from donating blood based on their sexual orientation alone. Instead, their individual risk should be assessed by a healthcare professional. There is little chance that a potential donor of any sexual orientation will be allowed to donate blood if they are not entirely fit to do so. Just yesterday, at Inverclyde royal hospital, I met some nurses who work with blood-borne viruses, and they told me that cases of heterosexual HIV infection are going up. There is a huge amount of misconception about gay men and blood donation. Improvements in testing and many other safeguards have reduced the risk to an acceptable level.
Due to the drop in donors, we face a shortage of blood. Right now in Scotland there is only six days’ supply of type B negative and just seven days’ supply of A positive. That is a real problem for someone in one of those blood groups who has had an accident or will have an operation and needs blood. The issue really is affecting people in Scotland right now. I am sure that we all agree that it is in our interests not to prevent healthy people from giving blood. If the scientific evidence tells us that people do not pose a risk, we should allow them to give blood.
On a personal note, I am a card-carrying organ donor, but I have never given blood. That comes down in large part to the issue that Patrick Harvie raised—the stigma that people feel when having difficult private discussions about their sexual practices. We must make sure that our policies are based on scientific evidence and are in the best interests of the public. I welcome the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs policy review, and I hope that the UK Government and the Scottish Government will try to implement any recommendations that come from it. We should remember that regulation of blood donation keeps us all safe—but it should also keep us all equal.
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