A BLACK MP has demanded that the government scraps the ban on donating blood within three months of visiting the African continent.

Ministers removed a restriction on LGBT+ people donating blood in June this year, but kept a ban on people had sex with anyone who had been sexually active in Africa or other parts of the world “where HIV/AIDS is very common.”

Taiwo Owatemi MP for Coventry North West, has called on health secretary Sajid Javid to “accept the science and remove these discriminatory rules” ahead of Black History Month this October.

In a letter to Javid, Owatemi and fellow Labour MP Sarah Owen claim that the ban works against the government’s aim of increasing blood donations from the Black community.

Scotland and Wales have already axed the restrictions.

The MPs say the ban acts as a “significant barrier for many people who may wish to donate blood, and this comes at the expense of the NHS Blood and Transplant’s current push to get more Black people to give blood” to meet the demand for race blood types that are more common in people of African heritage.

They write: “Black donors are ten times more likely – than White people – to have the Ro and B positive blood types urgently needed to treat the 15,000 people in the UK suffering from the blood disorder sickle cell. Subtypes are important when someone has regular transfusions as they need blood that matches their own as closely as possible. Despite this currently, only 1% of current blood donors are Black.”

Ahead of World Blood Day in June, the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) – which advises UK health departments – recommended changes to the criteria around who can give blood after examining the latest evidence relating to blood donation and sexual behaviour presented by the FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) steering group.

These changes were fully implemented in Scotland and Wales but in England only the rules about gay and bisexual men were implemented.

Michael Brady, Medical Director at Terrence Higgins Trust said: “The government should always be working with the latest science on HIV transmission risk, whilst continuing to ensure the safety of our blood supply. These rules are outdated and discriminatory and removing them will only encourage much needed donors from black and ethnic minority communities.

“The fact that the rule has been abolished in Scotland and Wales makes it even more essential that we address this in England. I hope this will happen soon to ensure we continue to apply an evidence based, fair and equitable approach to blood donation rules.”

Glenda Bonde, Head of NHS Services at Terrence Higgins Trust described it as “shocking” that “some members of the black community are still obstructed from saving lives by becoming new blood donors.” 

“The government is crying out for new blood and plasma donors from members of the black community in England but this antiquated ban is hurtful, discriminatory and perpetuates a stigma about HIV that is just wrong,” she said. “Ending this injustice will cost the government nothing but will lead to more blood donors and have zero impact on blood safely – everyone’s top priority.”

The letter follows a number of parliamentary questions to the Health Secretary submitted by Florence Eshalomi, MP for Vauxhall, earlier in the week including: “To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for his decision not remove the three month restriction on donating blood for anyone in England whose partner has had sex with someone from parts of the world where HIV is very common; and if he will publish that this scientific advice.”