Share

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

Image: CHA, National Campaign on Blood Donation.

The Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA) denounced the discrimination a 23-year-old man faced at a clinic when he was denied the right to donate blood because he is gay. This incident, far from being a new occurrence, is a recurring problem, prompting the organization to file a complaint with the Ministries of Health and of Women, Gender and Diversity. The complaint accuses the Argentine Association of Hemotherapy, Immunohematology and Cell Therapy (AAHITC) – formerly known as the Argentine Association of Hemotherapy and Immunohematology (AAHI) – of discriminating against members of the LGBT+ community by preventing them from donating blood based on prejudice and stigma.

Agencia Presentes spoke with Cesar Cigliutti, president of CHA, who explained that AAHITC shares on its institutional page that among the impediments to donating are, verbatim: “Men who have or have had relationships between men and women who have or have had a male sexual partner who also has sex with men.”

Cigliutti told this publication that many clinics and hospitals operate under this criterion, subsequently discriminating against individuals, despite its illegality. In Argentina, Resolution No. 1507/15, , aimed to end homophobia in the right to blood donation by modifying the eligibility requirements. However, in everyday practice, cases of rights violations based on stigma persist, such as the complaint received by the CHA last week.

To change this, CHA and 100% Diversity and Rights spent years filing complaints and working together with the government. “We proposed a questionnaire that addressed risky practices, not risky individuals,” Cigliutti explains. And they emphasized the importance of ensuring that all blood is properly tested, regardless of its origin .

The CHA (Argentine Homosexual Community) denounced that Nicolás, the 23-year-old who was unable to donate blood for his father who was about to undergo surgery, met all the requirements to do so, but was denied because he is gay. They added that the blood bank told him they followed the regulations of the Argentine Association of Hemotherapy, Immunohemotherapy and Cell Therapy (AAHITC).

In January of this year, another young man reported that he was denied the right to donate blood at Garrahan Hospital because he is gay. And despite existing legislation prohibiting this, evidence suggests it continues to happen. “The solution is for the AAHITC (Argentine Association of Hematology, Hemotherapy and Transplantation) to comply with the law and implement genuine preventative measures, which are more scientifically sound than what they are currently advocating,” said Cigliutti.

Stigmata for plasma donation

While the Covid-19 pandemic continues unabated, the Argentine Senate unanimously approved a Plasma Donation Law . People who have recovered from the infection possess the necessary antibodies in their blood plasma, which could help those currently battling the disease. This is why the new law creating the National Blood Plasma Donation Campaign for recovered coronavirus patients was passed. However, due to the criteria applied by some healthcare centers and supported by associations like AAHITC, which are based on prejudice, many LGBT+ people will be unable to participate.

In a statement shared by the organization, María Laura Olivier, secretary of the CHA, expressed that “According to the provisions of the National Blood Law (No. 22,990) and its Resolution No. 1507/15 of the Ministry of Health, the AAHITC violates a national law for homophobic reasons, an act aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic, in which the State has a public health policy to promote plasma donation from people who have overcome the disease.”

While the complaint regarding discrimination in blood donation has already been filed, in practice, donating blood continues to depend on criteria filled with hatred and stigma, which are also illegal. “Thinking that you're protecting someone with these questions they ask is stupid. Many heterosexual people and others who have had risky practices without using condoms may think that since they're not in that other group, they can donate blood. That has no scientific basis,” said Cigliutti.