Gay men greenlighted for blood donation in Denmark

New blood donor rules to kick in next year

Aug 20, 2018

Fear of the HIV virus has meant gay men in Denmark have been prohibited from donating blood for many years. But that’s about to change.

The health minister, Ellen Trane Nørby, revealed today that the government will modernise the Danish blood donation system to better embrace gender equality. The new law will come into effect sometime in 2019.

The new rules mean gay men will be able to donate blood if they haven’t had sex with a man within a quarantine period of four months – the quarantine period is voided if the donor is in a relationship with one partner.

“The authority [patient safety] has found a model we feel is safe and we will therefore incorporate it into Denmark. All safety mechanisms in our blood donation system are built on trust and we have some very advanced tests that screen the blood,” Nørby told DR Nyheder.

Super screening
The law change has been a long time coming – there has been a political majority in favour of making the change for many years. But it wasn’t until last year that the Authority for Patient Safety was asked to produce a model that could modernise the rules.

Since 2009, all donor blood has been screened in Denmark for the likes of HIV and hepatitis B and C.

TOP STORIES

“Talents, start using AI tools now,” says Siri and Change.org founder

In an exclusive interview with The Copenhagen Post, the founder of Siri and Change.org, and currently VP of AI Experience at Airbnb, gives young talents advice on how to deal with the job market changed by artificial intelligence.
Danish politicians will double life science exports in a few years

“Strategy for life science” is a policy agreement to support the pharmaceutical industry’s opportunities to double exports to DKK 350 billion towards 2030
Make your voice heard as an expat

In my last op-ed, I made the case that we, expats living in Denmark, need to step up if we want to tackle the headaches that seem baked into expat life—e.g., counterintuitive laws and endless paperwork. With almost 16% of Denmark’s population made up of internationals, we actually have the numbers to influence real change. But after publishing the last op-ed, several readers contacted me and asked: Okay, but what can we actually do?
Royal House unveils new portraits of King Frederik and Queen Mary

Ten months after Frederik went from crown prince to king, new civil portraits of the new royal couple have been taken.
“Without internationals, we wouldn’t have the people we need,” says Fujifilm

Fujifilm’s Hillerød facility thrives with a diverse workforce, employing over 1,800 people from more than 65 nationalities. Morten Munk, Director of Global Alliance Management, highlights how the company’s rapid growth relies on attracting international talent due to Denmark’s limited pool of scientific professionals.
Denmark’s green transition is world class – according to the global climate index

No country has an ambitious enough climate policy to be awarded first, second or third place in global climate policy. Denmark holds 4th-place ranking in the Climate Change Performance Index

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

5 Dec: A guided tour of Christiansborg

Career

“Talents, start using AI tools now,” says Siri and Change.org founder

In an exclusive interview with The Copenhagen Post, the founder of Siri and Change.org, and currently VP of AI Experience at Airbnb, gives young talents advice on how to deal with the job market changed by artificial intelligence.
“Without internationals, we wouldn’t have the people we need,” says Fujifilm

Fujifilm’s Hillerød facility thrives with a diverse workforce, employing over 1,800 people from more than 65 nationalities. Morten Munk, Director of Global Alliance Management, highlights how the company’s rapid growth relies on attracting international talent due to Denmark’s limited pool of scientific professionals.
“Now the biggest challenge is to retain internationals”, says Ferring

Mads Hougaard, senior HR director at the pharmaceutical company, explains that “it is also a challenge for society itself. I think collaboration between institutions, companies, and stakeholders could be beneficial.”

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Jobs