Blood donation

[thekumquat]

I like to think that the world can be changed by pieces of paper and electrons being shuffled about. So when I get involved in activism I'll be writing pointed but polite letters, which often are quite effective. Finally sent an email to Access to Work asking them to explain why they refuse to send out blank forms, insist they have no fax or email

Comments

[aster13]

Totally agree with what you said.

I wonder if there is a tacit assumption that people will lie if they are sure that they are safe?

I reckon it's due to the endemic attude found within the medical professionals, that we, the public are not really bright enough to understand these sorts of concepts, so they need to turn it into something that even the dimmest person can grasp.

I do appreciate that there is a case for working to " the lowest common denominator" but i think that this ought to be flexible enough to deal with the people who are fully capable of this more advanced thinking!

[thekumquat]

Lack of questions about condom use, or regarding new partners, or test results - I knew there was something I'd forgotten, thank you

[lovingboth]

There's a new THT campaign out, 'Cover it', which has a tagline about 9 in 10 gay men using condoms

[aster13]

"We can expect continuing challenges to our policies,
including from registered civil partners."

This seems to be assuming (or at least implying the likelyhood) that couples who have civil partnerships will be monogamous....

What about people with recent STD screening test results? Or those who are willing to make some sort of signed claim that they are only engage in safer sex/are mongamous/etc?

(yes, i know those things are not foolproof or even necessarily accurate - but broad brush strokes)

Thumbs up for doing this, btw!

[aster13]

Ah, after phoenixology's post.

I'm not sure if this is a question you can legitamately ask (or at least get a written answer to!), but i do wonder if there is an unspoken assumption that if you believe yourself to be safe, then you will lie about being a MSM or partner thereof.

What is the consequence for doing that? Are there any legal repercussions? and could you be traced in any way if your blood were found to be infected?

[thekumquat]

All blood is tested, and if infected with anything they write to you (there's guidance on how to do it on the website), suggesting you see your doc. The assumption would be you didn't know you were infected. I would imagine that all concerned would politely assume you;d 'forgotten' or 'misunderstood a question', given that you would only have wasted some time and blood, not endangered anyone's life - if there were any further consequences you can imagine the scare stories about "I forgot about my piercing last year and ended up in jail!", which would put people off donating.

It would be interesting to see if they've taken lying into account. I know there are procedures for continuing the blood-taking process for anyone who is excluded by an answer (and coding the sample so it's not used), so that they don't have to suddenly come up with an excuse/reason to their colleagues who many be around them.