Parliament approved a resolution earlier this week to allow blood donations from gay men, who have previously been forbidden from donating blood, reports RÚV.
“Of course, we welcome the fact that technology and processes and other things enable more people to donate blood. It is in the great interest of society that as many people as possible can donate blood and that all opportunities to create access for more people to be able to do good in society are only for the positive,” says Davíð Stefán Guðmundsson, chairman of the Icelandic Blood Donor Association.
The Icelandic Blood Bank has been struggling to meet the need for blood lately and has put out a call for more donors.
There are noticeably fewer women who donate blood in Iceland, Davíð says. Compared to other Nordic countries, where nearly half of whole blood donations come from women, less than one third of donations in Iceland come from women.
The criteria for who can donate blood are constantly changing. “We especially urge people who are on some drugs and have at some point been refused because of these drugs, that those standards may have changed and with increased technology and improved procedures, these doors have reopened for those who thought they were closed.”
Anyone between the ages of 18-65 can take a health test on the Blood Bank’s website and come for a visit to see if they can continue with the blood donation itself.
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