Meeting of the Parliament 29 November 2016
Unfortunately, the Minister for Public Health and Sport is not able to be here today. As I have held that post previously and considered the issue, I am happy to be here to speak on this important matter. I thank all those members who have contributed to the debate.
We welcome the intentions that the motion reflects. Of course, we want to ensure that the NHS has sufficient blood to meet demand, so I also thank the many thousands of people who come forward to give blood every year. Demand for blood has reduced by 20 per cent in recent years, but we continue to ask for new donors to replace older ones who have dropped away, because we need donations from people who have certain types of blood. Anyone who wishes to join the register is very welcome indeed.
The motion talks about equality, which the Government takes seriously, but this is a matter of neither equality nor deliberate discrimination: it is a matter of the safety of the blood supply.
I will explain the rationale for the current restrictions. I know that some men who have sex with men feel that they are being unjustly prevented from donating blood, but the deferral is based on current epidemiology and a scientific assessment of risk. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has a clear duty to minimise the risk of a blood transfusion transmitting any infection. When we go to give blood, we are all asked the same questions on the same questionnaire. In 2015, for example, approximately 25,000 potential donors were deferred for various reasons and 31 of them were men who have sex with men. The rest were deferred for other reasons, including people who had travelled to certain countries, people who had recently had a tattoo and people who take certain medication or have certain illnesses. People are not deferred on the basis of sexual orientation but on the basis of high-risk behaviours.