Canadian Health Ministry Bans Organ Donations from Gay Men.

Some HIV/AIDS advocates in Canada are raising concerns about a regulation adopted by Health Canada, the country's health ministry, in December that bans organ donations from men who have sex with men (MSM), the Toronto Star reported. The ban prohibits organ donations from sexually active MSM, injection drug users and people living with hepatitis to limit the risk of spreading blood borne infections, including HIV.

Gary Levy, head of the University Health Network -- the country's largest organ transplant program - told the Star that Health Canada's new regulation formalizes precautions in use across Canada for at least 10 years. The regulations are based primarily on blood donor criteria that exclude MSM, Levy said, adding that the restrictions likely go too far in excluding all sexually active MSM.

Levy said transplant surgeons will continue to make the final decision on which organs are suitable for use. Under the new regulations, physicians will have to sign a form stating they authorized the use of an organ that would normally be excluded, the Star reported.

Phillip Berger, head of family and community medicine at St. Michael Hospital in Toronto, told the Star the regulation is fundamentally flawed because the organ harvesting system depends entirely on the honesty and goodwill of donors and their families. He added that current screening tests can determine the HIV status of donated organs rapidly and with almost 100 percent certainty. The only risk would come from donors in the "so-called window period, when they've been recently infected" with HIV, which is an "infinitesimal" worry, Berger said .Link: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/93701.php.