As part of a four-nation agreement, the Welsh Government has
announced that restrictions preventing some LGBTQ+ people from
donating tissue, surgical bone and stem cells will be lifted in
Wales.
Recommendations were provided to the Welsh Government following a
review by the FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk)
steering group, a UK-wide collaboration including representatives
from all UK blood services, medical, scientific and academic
experts, LGBTQ+ groups, as well as a selection of patients,
donors and their families.
Tissue and cell donation can save and change the lives of
patients in need. Tissue donors provide skin, tendons, bone and
other tissues, used to repair or rebuild the bodies and faces of
severely injured people whilst donated skin, bone and heart
valves can save or improve the quality of life for many patients.
Donations can be made by living donors, or by deceased donors,
following discussions with the deceased’s family.
Bone marrow/stem cells also provide lifesaving treatments to
patients suffering from certain types of cancers and other blood
and immune system diseases that affect the bone marrow. The Welsh
Bone Marrow Donor Registry (WBMDR) and other UK registries
collect bone marrow/stem cells from donors for patients who need
lifesaving transplants both here in the UK and worldwide.
In 2020, following a review by the FAIR steering group, the Welsh
Government introduced landmark changes to blood and platelet
donor eligibility so that all donors, regardless of gender, are
now asked questions about sexual behaviours, focused mainly on
the last three months. These changes allowed more people from
LGBTQ+ communities to donate.
Building on the changes implemented in 2020, the FAIR-III
steering group has now made further recommendations to cell and
tissue donations which have been endorsed by the Advisory
Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO),
which advises UK and devolved governments.
Following the decision, the Welsh Blood Service, NHS Blood and
Transplant in England and other organisations involved with
donation and transplant will now work together to change the
eligibility questions asked during the tissue and cell donation
process.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan said:
“Tissue and cell donations play an important part in modern
medicine, can greatly improve and sometimes save people’s lives.
“I am pleased to announce the implementation of the
recommendations will extend this to tissue and cell donations. We
need as many donors as possible, and this move will enable more
people to make these priceless donations. The changes will ensure
a fairer and more up-to-date assessment of risk is applied to all
donors, without discrimination.
“I would encourage anyone aged 17-30 to sign up to the Welsh Bone
Marrow Donor Registry and to remain opted into the national organ
and tissue donation programme.”
Speaking of these changes, Tracey Rees, Interim Chief Scientific
Officer for the Welsh Blood Service, said:
“We were proud to be one of the first countries in the world to
introduce the recommendations of the FAIR steering group in 2020,
enabling more people than ever to donate.
“Whilst tissue and cell services are not responsible for setting
the rules around donation, we are delighted our work with the
FAIR steering group has led to further changes to the regulations
around tissue and cell donation in the UK.
“Building on this ground-breaking work we are again delighted to
be working with Services across the UK to improve the safety of
tissue and cell donation thanks to the introduction of fairer
eligibility criteria to tissue and cell donation.
“Now we have received the recommendations from the FAIR steering
Group we await further guidance from the Joint United
Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation
Services Professional Advisory Committee on the implementation of
these changes so they can be introduced without delay.”
To find out what these donations mean to patients, visit Wales Blood Service
