Blood service finds no trace of GLA donors - SAPA

Blood service finds no trace of GLA donors
January 17 2006 at 03:45PM

The alleged mass defiance by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GLA) of a ban on blood from gay male donors could still not be confirmed by the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) on Tuesday.

"They have gone through everything (donor records) and they cannot find it," spokesperson Ianthe Exall said of the claims of en-masse donations by gay and HIV-positive men.

"We have checked the actual names of people who claim to have donated and have not seen an increase in our clinics - there has been nothing different."

There had also not been a noticeable increase in first-time donors, which could have supported claims of a campaign.

"If they did donate and lied on the forms, they were more than likely first-time donors," Exall said.

The public needed to be assured that with first-time donations the service did not use the red blood cells contained in blood, only the plasma, which was virally safe.

"It does not get into the system."

On Friday, the SANBS received a copy of a media statement bearing the letterhead of the GLA - once a registered political party - claiming that eight of its board members had donated blood while not disclosing their gay lifestyle.

This was in defiance of an SANBS questionnaire which asked men whether they had had sex with other men in the past five years.

The service's policy has been widely condemned by gay interest groups who have called it discriminatory, unconstitutional and said it does not take into account studies showing lower HIV infection rates among gays than heterosexuals.

The SANBS, which is emerging from the scandal of its previous race-based risk assessment method, has defended its policy, saying it is based on international practice.

Meanwhile, as hysteria mounted about concern of the safety of the country's blood supplies, a deluge of statements from gay community organisations and spokespersons slammed the GLA as a fake organisation with only one member, and not the 157 000 it claimed.

Luiz de Barros, editor of gay lifestyle website mambaonline.com said: "I have been active in many organisations and know many people and none of us have ever been able to get proof of (GLA's) membership. None of us know one single person who is a member of GLA.

"This is probably a non-event - a hoax and the editors have completely bought into it."

They expressed anger that the sections of the media had not heeded repeated warnings that David Baxter, listed as GLA media spokesperson, and Juan Duval Uys were pseudonyms of "one man and a fax machine" and that the GLA was not representative of the lesbian and gay community.

When confronted with these allegations, Baxter insisted that the organisation had 157 000 members and said they paid R25 to join and that other gay organisations were angry with him for exposing various alleged infractions.

The telephones numbers he provided went unanswered on Tuesday and the organisation was not at the street address provided.

The department of health and the SANBS were expected to issue a joint statement on the matter on Tuesday.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has come out in support of SANBS policy on the use of blood from gay male donors.

"The ACDP supports the SANBS in their resolve to maintain their policy on blood donation by gay men.

"We are concerned by reports saying that the SANBS is going to review its policy because the current policy as it stands is in line with international law."

The SANBS has recognised that the question used to determine whether a donor has engaged in anal sex - considered a risk factor for disease transmission - was insensitive and has said it will be re-worded to cover anyone who engaged in the practice. - Sapa

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