karen2205: Me with proper sized mug of coffee (Default)
Karen ([personal profile] karen2205) wrote2007-05-18 05:43 pm

Blood donation

What a wonderful example of clarity of drafting and logical argument.

And this is just Wrong.

[identity profile] emarkienna.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice that they ignore bisexual men in their response, does this mean I can donate after all...?

Most of the Government responses I've seen have been basically "Why we think you are wrong and are going to ignore you", and are often poorly put together.

[identity profile] clawbug.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh bisexuals don't exist. All governments know that ;-)


[identity profile] damerell.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Although safer sex campaigns have had an impact, it is still considered that the risk of gay men being infected with HIV remains sufficiently high to include the criterion that they should not donate blood."

Seems pretty clear to me, and it's also accurate. It'd be nice if they'd s/gay men/men who have sex with men/ throughout, though.

[identity profile] damerell.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I forgot to say; although that deficiency is present in the petition response, the Blood Service themselves are scrupulously careful to define the restrictions in terms of activity, not sexual orientation. It's a shame whoever drafted this reply did not refer more closely to the source of the restrictions.

[identity profile] damerell.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I don't disagree with most of that, but I think they effectively say that gay men who are subsequently found to have HIV lied about their behaviour because that is the truth; those men have knowingly made an untrue statement and furthermore they have done so in a way that is highly irresponsible and endangers other people.

[identity profile] clawbug.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"However, it is not practical to expect donor session staff to be able to differentiate between gay men with lower or with higher risk lifestyles"

Oh yes how on Earth can you expect donor session staff to know what transfers HIV? *rolls eyes*

[identity profile] damerell.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
The real reason that's not practical is that any additional questioning - particularly personal questions, and you don't get much more personal than this - loses you a lot of blood because people in low-risk groups don't like it much - and gains you only a tiny amount, because MSM have such a high incidence that only the very lowest "low-risk" men are lower risk than the population at large.

[identity profile] mirrorshard.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Serious question: do we know of any petitions via that service that haven't been given this sort of "here's why we were right all along, thank you for your time" reply?

[identity profile] emarkienna.livejournal.com 2007-05-23 11:21 am (UTC)(link)
The Government agreed with this one: http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page10776.asp . But that's basically only because they already agreed - I've never seen a case where they change their opinion based on the petition, they simply state what the Government's position is on the matter.
ext_8103: (Default)

[identity profile] ewx.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)

Giving blood is neither a right nor a privilege: it's the ability to receive it in an emergency that actually matters. There doesn't seem to be any suggestion that there's a shortage, so I don't see why people get so upset about it.



If there was a shortage, then it would certainly be well worthwhile looking at whether the current rules are over-cautious and whether they could be relaxed in a way that was both safe and improved supply. But I've yet to hear anyone stating there's a shortage. In the meantime, there are more important things to worry about.


Double bah

[identity profile] vicki-t-veg.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Blood donation rules have annoyed me since I was old enough to donate. Then being ruled out as I'd had major surgery, which all my doctors thought was a load of rubbish. And when I wrote to the NBS I was told people"with my condition" were at risk so couldn't give blood. I wasn't aware I had a "condition". And now I'm also ruled out having had sex with men who've had sex with men.


Re Neighbours: I'm very annoyed and disappointed with the bbc's decision. I've watched since the first episode and was part of the big fangirl thing when it started. Have posted to BBC site.
I have lunch when it's on,it's about the only bit of routine I have in my life(Yes I'm that sad and don't stick to routines easily)
Though we do still have it til March(I think) on BBC.