Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has announced a gradual change to rules around blood donations by men who have sex with men (MSM).

Since 2017, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has had a one-year deferral for men who have sex with other men - gay, bisexual and pansexual people - in order for them to donate blood.

He tweeted: "We are introducing changes to our deferral policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). The changes will be introduced in two phases with the initial phase being introduced by the end of March 2022 and the second phase being introduced later in 2022.

"The initial phase will reduce the existing 12-month deferral for MSM to four months. This is an interim measure while the Irish Blood Transfusion Service introduces new technology, to replace the existing paper health and lifestyle questionnaire (HLQ).

"This is an important step and follows a report to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board by an independent advisory group chaired by Professor Mary Horgan. A progressive move that I hope will be widely welcomed."

We are introducing changes to our deferral policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). The changes will be introduced in two phases with the initial phase being introduced by the end of March 2022 and the second phase being introduced later in 2022.

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) December 22, 2021

The announcement comes after years of advocating for a safe & evidence-based change to blood donor criteria for gbMSM by the likes of HIV Ireland and other groups. Thanks to their continuous push for the alterations, the Republic of Ireland has today achieved a move to individual risk-based assessment.

The deferral of anyone taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a HIV prevention drug, will also be reduced from 12 months to four months, under the announced changes.

More than 400 units of blood are being imported into Ireland this week in response to a shortage in supply. This marks the second time in 2021 that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has imported blood from the UK’s NHS Blood and Transplant unit. Gay men can donate blood in the UK, which includes Northern Ireland.

The IBTS said this week that it is in urgent need of blood donations to see it through Christmas and beyond, with Storm Barra costing the service around 300 donations in recent weeks.

The rise in Covid-19 cases has also affected blood donation appointments, with more blood being issued to hospitals than being collected.

Only 3% of the population are blood donors and approximately 9% of these are O negative, and the IBTS needs to collect 3,000 units of blood every week to maintain the national blood supply.

HIV Ireland has welcomed the changes to the criteria for blood donation stating that it will put an end to the “discriminatory deferral period”.

Adam Shanley, HIV Ireland’s mpower programme manager, said the decision acknowledges that a 12-month deferral policy is “not appropriate policy for donor selection”.

“The expected move to individualised risk-based assessments will mean that gay and bisexual men who wish to give blood can do so knowing that they will not be precluded based solely on sexual orientation but will be subject to the same selection criteria as everyone else,” he added.

The organisation said the policy change will ensure both the safety of the blood supply and the welcome increase in donations from previously excluded groups.