BLOOD donors have welcomed changes to the rules for donation which have been described as “fairer and more inclusive.”

Services will now assess donor eligibility on a person-by-person basis instead of applying across-the-board restrictions, removing the deferment period for some gay and bisexual men from donating blood. 

The policy will take effect on World Blood Donor Day and will allow thousands of gay and bisexual men, previously excluded, to donate for the first time.

The Equality Network has been involved in campaigning for fair blood donation rules since 2005, with the lifetime ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) lifted in 2011, and the 12-month deferment was replaced with a three-month deferment in 2017.

Equality Network development manager Scott Cuthbertson said: “Today, during Pride Month, I’m proud to donate my blood for the first time alongside many other gay and bisexual men across the UK as the rules which we long felt to be unnecessarily exclusionary have been replaced with a person-by-person risk assessment.”