Transgenders, gays and sex workers prohibited from donating blood: Centre presents scientific evidence before court

The government of India has explained to the Supreme Court that its decision to ban transgenders, gay men and women and sex workers from donating blood because it has scientific evidence that these groups are high risk groups in terms of spreading STDs. Read on to find out more about the reasons behind the government’s move.

According to new rules by the Government of India, transgenders, gays and sex workers will not be allowed donate blood.

This was mentioned in the Blood Donor Selection Guidelines of the Ministry of Family Welfare, Central Government.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had filed its preliminary affidavit in a petition challenging the blood donor guidelines in so far as they impose a blanket ban on Transgender persons, gay men, female sex workers, etc. from donating blood. It has stated that the determination of the population group that is to be precluded from being blood donors is prescribed by the National Blood Transf usion Council (NBTC, a body comprising medical and scientific experts) and is based on scientific evidence. At the threshold, the affidavit argues that the issues raised in the petition falls within the ambit of the executive and is required to be considered from a public health perspective rather than an individual rights perspective.

Thangjam Santa Singh, a member of the transgender community, had filed a petition opposing the Guidelines for Donor Selection and Donor Referral, 2017. assails the “Guideline on Blood Donor Selection and Blood Donor Referral, 2017” issued by the National Blood Transfusion Council and the National Aids Control Organization under the aegis of Central Health Ministry in October 2017. Clauses 12 and 51 of the said guidelines consider transgender persons, gay men and female sex workers to be a high-risk HIV/AIDS category and prohibit them from donating blood.

The matter reached the Supreme Court and now the Central Government has presented some scientific proofs in the the country’s highest court to justify its decision.

The government argues that it is their right of the sick and the needy to get safe blood as and when they need it.

It said that this step is important from a health point of view too. Therefore, the purpose of banning any particular group of people is to implement the Safe Blood Transfusion System.

It is more important to understand that giving safe blood is more important than the right to give blood.

It further said that when transgenders and sex workers become blood donors, then the risk of the spread of the following diseases will increase:

H.I.V.

AIDS

Hepatitis B or C

Malaria

STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection)

To the question as to who decides who will donate blood and who will not?, the government in its affidaviet said that the Ministry of Family Welfare of the Central Government has a guideline in this regard. Based on these guidelines transgenders, gay men and women, sex workers have been banned from donating blood.

This guideline was prepared by the National Blood Transfusion Council in 2017 with the advice and research of doctors and scientific experts.

The central government gave evidence of 8 research to the Supreme Court to give a scientific reason for excluding these three groups from donating blood.

The research of the International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health published in 2019, which stated that MSM i.e. men having physical relation with men are more at risk of getting HIV, STI. Research proved that 37% of MSM were transgender and did not use condoms while having sex.

A study on commercial sex workers carried out in Karnataka in 2011, which included 6 districts of the state found that sex workers were falling prey to HIV and STI because of their clients. They obviously did not any knowledge of the history of their client’s sexual behaviour. They were not sure how they got the STDs.

In 2021, a study done about men in the cities of Chennai and Mumbai who had physical relations with other men. It was revealed in this report that the number of MSM in the country is continuously rising. The report stated that in most cases the men did not care to take any kind of precaution while having sex. This was the reason why diseases like STI and chlamydia infection was spreading.

The Lok Nayak Hospital Delhi along with the Department of Microbiologist, Maulana Azad Medical College Delhi and Department of Dermatology, Maulana Azad Medical College Delhi conducted two yearlong research on MSM. 738 male patients had arrived for the treatment of sexual diseases and skin diseases. Of these, 64% admitted that they had relationships with both men and women. 36% said that they have never made a physical relationship with a woman, and their partner had only been men.

The study said that transgenders were more at risk of contracting HIV than others. They don’t take any measures to protect themselves against it. This was a unique study in itself. In this, 98 studies from 34 countries were taken together. Of these 78 studies revealed that the risk of HIV and STD is high in both transgender men and women.

The seventh research was carried out by the Indian Journal of Public Health in 2020 and the eighth by Lancet in 2022. Along with this, the government cited the annual report of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, (2020-2021) in the affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court. According to this report, the risk of HIV transmission among transgender people (H/TG), men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW) is 6 to 13 times higher than normal adults’. It goes on to add that similar restrictions are prevalent across the globe.

The affidavit argues that the Blood Transfusion System is an important aspect of the healthcare system in India and it is a major public health responsibility to ensure the safety, quality, clinical effectiveness and availability of blood. It notes that integrity of India’s Blood Transfusion System is to be strengthened in order to instil faith in people who are completely dependent on it. It further argues that sourcing blood from high-risk groups is in the teeth of the National Blood Policy, which emphasises on a safe donor pool.

The petition pleaded that exclusion of the above class of persons, solely on the basis of their gender identities/ sexual orientation, is not only unreasonable but also unscientific.

Courtesy : Times Now

Note: This news piece was originally published in timesnow.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.