Controlavirus

[BIAD]

We'll see if this kicks up a fuss in the LGBT+ community. It's an uncomfortable truth and sad that the realities
of when the HIV virus came visiting have been quickly forgotten.

Gay and bisexual men excluded from coronavirus blood plasma trial.

'Gay and bisexual men have been told they cannot take part in a blood trial which experts hope could serve
as a potential coronavirus treatment. People who have recovered from Covid-19 have been encouraged to
donate their blood plasmas, which will then be transfused to infected patients at London’s Guy’s and St
Thomas’s Hospital.



It is hoped the process, called convalescent plasma, will help patients whose immune systems are not producing
sufficient antibodies to fight the novel virus. But any man who has had sex with another man in the last three months
is excluded from the trial, which echoes current guidance on giving blood.

Critical care manager Andy Roberts, who had tested positive for Covid-19, said he was told he could not take part
as he is in a same-sex relationship. After a 20 minute call with an operator, Mr Roberts said he was quizzed on his
sexuality before being turned down.

His long-term partner, Keith Ward, said the rules were discriminatory against the LGBT+ community and that the
situation made him ‘feel very angry’. He told ITV News: ‘We have been together in a monogamous relationship for
more than 30 years and I previously didn’t know of this outrageous three-month rule.

‘It only goes to show that in the UK being gay is still thought as a form of contamination, so if you’re straight and sleep
with a different person every weekend it’s safer according to [the rules].’

Current guidelines set by the NHS Blood and Transplant service says ‘men who have sex with men are at an increased
risk of acquiring certain infections through sex’ and they still apply to those who have used protection.
The official Give blood website states: ‘Gay and bisexual men are not automatically prevented from giving blood.
‘However, all men must wait 3 months after having oral or anal sex with another man before donating.

‘This rule applies to every man, regardless of their sexual orientation, whether they’re in a stable relationship or whether
they use protection such as condoms or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)’. So far, more than 6,500 people have signed
up to donate to the plasma trial.

Although it is not yet known how many antibodies build up in people who have beaten Covid-19, there have been some
promising signs of immunity with patients who have retained antibodies long after recovering,

If the treatment proves to be effective, NHS Blood and Transplant will begin a national programme to deliver up to 10,000
units of convalescent plasma per week to the NHS, enough to treat 5,000 patients each week. But Director of Policy at
Stonewall, Laura Russell, told ITV the donor guidelines were ‘really upsetting’ for gay and bi men who want to help in finding
a Covid-19 treatment.

She insisted the decision on who can donate blood or a plasma ‘should be based on individual risk assessments, not on
people’s sexual orientation’. A spokesperson for the NHS Blood and Transplant service said the trial will initially be run using
the current donor selection guidelines but will ‘keep this under review’.

It acknowledged ‘this deferral can feel disappointing if you want to save lives’ but said the three-month guidelines are in place
to ‘protect the health of the donor and the recipient’. The spokesperson added: ‘Separately to the convalescent plasma trial,
we are working with LGBT+ groups to explore whether we might be able to introduce a more individualised risk assessment
for blood donation.’..'

Metro:

Here we go, placating ignorance for the sake of not being called names.