HOBART, August 18, 2008  –  An Australian Aids expert has told the Tasmanian inquiry into the gay blood ban that it is time for donors to be screened for risky sexual activity, not their partner’s gender.

Bill Bowtell today told the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal that it is time for potential donors, homosexual and heterosexual, to be screened for risky sexual activity such as unprotected anal intercourse.

Mr. Bowtell was senior advisor to Australian Health Minister, Dr Neal Blewett, when all gay men were initially barred from blood donation in 1983, and is widely seen as the architect of Australia's successful response to HIV/Aids.

He told the Tribunal thar advances in blood testing and the growing need for safe blood mean it is in the public interest to allow blood donation from low-risk gay men.

Mr. Bowtell added that the growing heterosexual HIV epidemic in the Asia Pacific region poses a risk to the Australian blood supply unless heterosexuals are screened for unsafe sexual activity.

“We have a very strong and robust system which we can change to reduce risk, increase the volume of blood and remove unnecessary prejudice and discrimination”, he said.

When asked if a question about anal sex might offend or deter some potential donors Mr Bowtell said:  “When you ask Australians a straight forward, honest question, you’re likely to get a straight forward, honest answer.”

Also appearing today was Dr Paul Holland, a medical professor from California, who supports the current gay blood ban.

When asked to define “sex”, Dr Holland said it involves any exchange of bodily secretions including kissing, and that if a man engages in a same-sex kiss he should, on that basis alone, be barred from blood donation.

Dr Holland maintained that there is no safe sexual contact for men who have sex with men “other than abstinence”.

Statistics and studies from Spain and Italy showing that HIV-positive blood donations from gay men have not increased since those countries allowed low-risk gay men to become blood donors were not accepted by Dr Holland.

The current gay blood donation inquiry before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal was instigated by Launceston gay man Michael Cain who is seeking a blood donation policy which screens donors for the safety of their sexual activity rather than the gender of their sexual partner.

The current hearings began on August 7th and will continue until the end of this month.

SEE ALSO

HIV Infection From Gay Blood Donation Likely “Once Every 5769 Years”.  The Tribunal hearing a case against the Australian Red Cross gay blood ban has been told today that if the current bar on gay blood donation is lifted, a single HIV-positive blood donation from a gay man will slip through clinical screening in Tasmania once every 197 years.  (UK Gay News, August 15, 2008)

Bio-Ethicists Address Gay Blood Donor Hearings.  Two bio-ethicists today addressed the inquiry underway in Tasmania into gay blood donation.  (UK Gay News, August 13, 2008)

Tasmanian ‘Gay Blood’ Inquiry Hears that Safe Sex Works.  An inquiry into the current ban on gay blood donation has heard that safe sex is effective in reducing HIV risk.  Social researcher, Associate Professor Anne Mitchell, today told the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal that risky sexual activity is not as widespread amongst gay and bisexual men as some studies suggest.  Full witness statement of Prof. Anne Mitchell. (UK Gay News, August 12, 2008)

Gay Blood Ban Hearing: Red Cross Accused of “Scare Tactics”.   Gay activists have accused the Red Cross of scare tactics on the first day of a hearing into Australia’s gay blood ban, in Hobart today.  (UK Gay News, August 7, 2008)

Groundbreaking Gay Blood Ban Case Starts Thursday.  The first full hearing in a groundbreaking gay blood ban case begins in Hobart, Tasmania, on Thursday before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.  (UK Gay News, August 5, 2008)

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Posted: 18 August 2008 at 11:00 (UK time)