Trans people and blood donation

Goldman, Mindy; Butler‐Foster, Terrie; Lapierre, Don; O’Brien, Sheila F; Devor, Aaron

doi:10.1111/trf.15777

Cited by 14 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…There has been signi cant treatment of the equity issues at play in blood donation policies from social science and/or humanities perspectives. Aspects of equity that have been examined include sexual orientation (2,3), racialized identities/Blackness (4), and transgender identities (5,6). However, there is a dearth of peer reviewed primary scienti c literature regarding blood and plasma donation dealing with equity considerations in policy development.…”

Section: Background Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Title: Advances in blood donor policies in relation to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) and transgender populations as donors: A scoping review.

Gahagan

Haw

Butler‐Foster

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: Globally, the updating of donor policies in relation to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM), transgender, and gender diverse populations remains an important public health issue. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine how Canada and other OECD countries are addressing this issue in relation to plasma and whole blood donation policies. Methods: The scoping review included English-language peer-reviewed empirical studies from OECD countries from 1997 to 2020 to better understand the shifts in donor policies over this time period. Initial search criteria resulted in 3,974 abstracts and titles. Researchers reviewed abstracts according to eligibility criteria which yielded a total of 51 published studies for full review. Data charting was based on Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for scoping reviews. Results: Key considerations included the reliance on mathematical modeling and behavioural risk surveillance data as a means of continuing with the status quo in informing donor policies which continue to ban sexually active gbMSM from donating. In addition, there is a lack of focus on the unique concerns facing transgender, gender diverse, and racially diverse populations who may wish to donate whole blood or plasma. Conclusions: There is a growing international policy shift in reducing the lifetime donor ban and/or removing the ban for gbMSM to donate blood. More needs to be done to both clarify the rationale for such policies in the face of current scientific evidence and testing and to ensure inclusion of transgender, gender diverse, and racially diverse populations in the formation of policies and information about both whole blood and plasma donations. Finally, blood operators need to work more closely with diverse donor communities to ensure the approach taken is in keeping with the needs of gbMSM, transgender, and gender diverse populations.

show abstract

Section: Background Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Title: Advances in blood donor policies in relation to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) and transgender populations as donors: A scoping review.

Gahagan

Haw

Butler‐Foster

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One of the major system challenges at this time is the binary gender limitations of most blood establishment computer systems (BECS). The majority of BECS used by BCOs worldwide only has a male and female gender option [17]. The results of a 2017 american association of blood banks (AABB) survey of the United States and Canadian BCOs showed that only 3% had additional gender options for donors in their BECS [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For some centres, the sex/gender for the donor's record will be taken from identification but this may not reflect the donor's gender identity. Other centres will accept the donor's self‐declared gender while others document the donor's sex at birth or perform an individual assessment [17]. Ultimately, the sex/gender documented in the donor's record will determine what donor screening questions will be asked if a gender‐specific electronic questionnaire is being used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One gender‐specific question for male donors asks about sexual activity with other men (MSM) due to higher rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection with MSM [19, 20]. Although studies show that transgender women also have a high HIV infection rate, using this data to guide transgender blood donor eligibility is not ideal since many of the HIV‐infected participants in these studies would not have qualified for blood donation (e.g., history of accepting money for sex or drug use) [17, 21, 22]. Nevertheless, given this risk data in transgender women, the most conservative approach would be to ask transgender women about sexual activity with men.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For transgender donors, including non‐binary donors, blood centres must decide what Hgb criteria and EBV calculations are most appropriate to use. Of note, hormone treatment in transgender donors can impact both Hgb and EBV [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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