英国政府决定从今年11月起解除同性恋和双性恋男子终身不得献血的禁令，宣布只要在过去一年内未与同性发生性行为的男子均可参与献血。英国同性恋献血禁令于上世纪80年代初期开始实行，因为当时检测技术有限，处于“潜伏期”的艾滋病毒很难被检测出来。不过，随着医学技术的不断发展，此项禁令开始受到质疑。英国研究机构检测最近的研究发现，大多含有艾滋病毒的血液现在都可以被有效地检测出来，所以被感染的血液危害到其他病人的可能性微乎其微，因此禁止同性恋献血的医学理由并不充分。英国政府认同这一研究结果，并宣布解除禁令。不过，在此项禁令正式解除之前，英国血液、组织和器官安全咨询委员会将会对其进行全面评估。英国卫生部承认，他们只能选择相信某些同性恋献血者的个人诚信，因为他们是否曾禁欲一年这一事实是无法检测的。

The lifetime ban on blood donations by homosexual and bisexual men will be lifted in England, Scotland and Wales.

The lifetime ban on blood donations by homosexual and bisexual men will be lifted in England, Scotland and Wales.

Ministers have agreed to let men who have not had sex with another man in the past 12 months to donate from November.

The restrictions were put in place in the 1980s to prevent the risk of HIV contamination.

However, the latest medical evidence presented to a government panel argued the ban could no longer be justified.

Ministers in the three countries accepted the argument and said they would be relaxing the rules. Northern Ireland is expected to make a decision soon.

The National Blood Service screens all donations for HIV and other infections. However, there is a "window period" after infection during which it is impossible to detect the virus.

In the UK, a lifetime ban was introduced in the early 1980s as a response to the Aids epidemic and the lack of adequate HIV tests.

The ban had been questioned both on equality and medical grounds.

The government's Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs has been reviewing the policy.

Committee member Prof Deirdre Kelly said the safety of the blood supply is "absolutely essential" and that any restrictions "must be based on the latest scientific evidence".

She said there had been advances in the testing of donated blood which had significantly reduced the chance of errors and had reduced the size of the "window period".

She said the data showed that "the risk from a 12-month deferral was equivalent to permanent deferral" so "the evidence does not support the maintenance of a permanent ban".

Other at-risk groups, such as people who have been sexually active in high-risk countries, are already banned from donating for a year.

The findings were accepted by health ministers and a one-year ban will come into force in England, Scotland and Wales on 7 November.

Several other countries have already come to similar verdicts.

South Africa has introduced a six-month gap between sex and donation. It is a year in Australia, Sweden and Japan.

Research published at the end of last year suggested there was no significant increase in the risk of HIV infection after the change in the rules in Australia.

Dr Lorna Williamson, medical and research director of NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "The change does not alter the estimated risk, therefore patients needing a transfusion can be sure blood is safe."

The gay rights group Stonewall said the move was a "step in the right direction".

However, its chief executive Ben Summerskill said there would still be tighter controls on low-risk gay men than on high-risk heterosexuals.

来源：中国日报网英语点津  编辑：许银娟