Evolving the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men time‐based deferral to sexual risk screening for all donors: The contribution of Canadian research programmes

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesIn Canada, the time deferral for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) to donate blood has gradually decreased. In September 2022, this deferral was replaced with sexual behaviour‐based screening for all donors. We investigate how data from targeted research programmes addressed knowledge gaps to support this change.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a scoping review describing the Canadian literature available before the research programmes relating to (1) behavioural indicators of HIV risk and (2) attitudes to blood donation among gbMSM, current donors and the general population. We summarize the targeted research programmes, their outputs and impact to date.ResultsFor question 1, five projects met inclusion criteria. For question 2, three articles met inclusion criteria. Knowledge gaps identified were insufficient evidence of HIV incidence in gbMSM who met other donor eligibility criteria and scant data on opinions and views of blood donation and screening criteria for sexual risk behaviours. The research programmes funded 19 projects at 11 different research sites involving over 100 individual researchers/collaborators resulting in 19 peer‐reviewed publications to date. Leveraging existing gbMSM cohorts yielded relevant HIV incidence data to inform safety modelling studies. Findings indicated that sexual behaviour‐based screening was acceptable to gbMSM and donors, and donor discomfort around specific questions could be mitigated with clear explanations.ConclusionTargeted research programmes filled critical knowledge gaps and informed a change to gender‐neutral, sexual behaviour‐based screening for all donors. Findings supported successful implementation of these changes with research‐informed staff training.