Petitioner: Rob McDowall
Status:
Closed
Date Lodged:
28 March 2008
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to to review existing guidelines and risk assessment procedures to allow healthy gay and bisexual men to donate blood.
Summary:
15 April 2008: The Committee agreed to seek responses to the issues raised in the petition from the Scottish Government, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Joint United Kingdom Blood Transfusion Services and National Institute of Biological Standards and Control Professional Advisory Committee, Advisory Committee for Safety and Blood, Tissues and Organs, Bloodban, Terrence Higgins Trust and the Equality Network. Link to Official Report 15 April 2008
4 November 2008: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service seeking a response to the specific points raised during the meeting. Link to Official Report 4 November 2008
10 February 2009: The Committee agreed to suspend further consideration of the petition until the work being taken forward by the Health Protection Agency in England into exclusion of donors due to high risk behaviour is completed in 2010. Link to Official Report 10 February 2009 The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) and the Scottish Government to provide an update to the Committee on what bearing this work has on the scope for healthy gay and bisexual men to donate blood. Link to Official Report 10 February 2009
16 June 2009 he Committee agreed to suspend further consideration of the petition until the work being taken forward by the Health Protection Agency in England into the exclusion of donors due to high risk behaviour is completed. In suspending the petition, the Committee agreed to write to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service seeking a further response to specific points. Link to Official Report 16 June 2009
4 May 2010: The Committee agreed to write to the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) and the Scottish Government seeking a response to specific points and to postpone further consideration of the petition until SaBTO has completed its review of current blood donor deferral or exclusion criteria. Link to Official Report 4 May 2010
23 November 2010: The Committee agreed to suspend consideration of the petition until the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs has completed its review of current blood donor deferral or exclusion criteria and the Scottish Government has had time to consider the outcomes at which time it should submit a response to the Committee. Link to Official Report 23 November 2010
8 March 2011: The Committee agreed to invite, in its legacy paper, the Session 4 Public Petitions Committee to give further consideration to the petition. Link to Official Report 8 March 2011
4 October 2011: The Committee agreed to close the petition under Rule 15.7 on the grounds that the existing guidelines in respect of the exclusion criteria for blood donors have now been reviewed and the criteria revised to allow men, whose last sexual contact with another man was more than 12 months ago, to be blood donors subject to meeting other donor selection criteria. Link to Official Report 4 October 2011 (472KB pdf)
Written Submissions:
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