Australia lifts plasma donation ban for gay, bisexual men in world first

The Lifeblood service says the changes will have no impact on safety but will boost the donor pool.

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The rules, originally introduced to decrease the risk of blood donations from groups with a higher chance of HIV exposure, will begin being revoked from next month, following similar moves in the UK and US.

However, under the changes, Australia will become the first country in the world to remove all sexual activity-based restrictions on plasma donation, the national blood donation service Lifeblood says.

The new rules have been approved by the country's health products regulator, and are estimated to expand the donation pool by 625,000 people.

"Australian lives will be saved by this overdue and important decision," said Rodney Croome - from the Let Us Give campaign, which lobbied for the change.