Jerusalem: Israel has raised restrictions on blood donors by gay men, by saying the limitations of discriminatory and degrading, the Minister of Health Israel said Thursday.
Earlier this year Britain traded restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, following the same decision by the US last year due to a decrease in the nation’s blood supply.
Until Thursday, the man who tried to donate blood in Israel was asked whether they had same-sex relationships in the past 12 months, a category that would disqualify from giving them.
Now the questionnaire asks whether the prospective donor has “high-risk sexual relations with new partners or partners ” in the last three months, using gender neutral words.
Nitzan Horowitz, Minister of Health Israel, who is really gay, writes in a post Facebook that the Ministry of Health has “deleted a demeaning and irrelevant question in a questionnaire for blood donors, and that everyone will be treated equally regardless of sexual orientation.
“There is no difference between one blood and the other,” he said.
” Discrimination against gay in contributing blood is over.
“Israel’s LGBTQ rights rights praise the step as an important step for equality in Israel.
GAL Wagner Kolalasko, Head of the Israeli LGBT Medical Association, was taken to Twitter to thank Horowitz for “historical correction.
‘” Now there is a safe blood dose for all without discrimination or damaging human rights.
Because discrimination also causes serious damage to health, “he said.