Luke Pollard MP with Ethan Spibey, founder of Freedom to Donate
Luke Pollard MP with Ethan Spibey, founder of Freedom to Donate
  • On World Blood Donor Day today, Luke Pollard MP is backing calls to reform blood donation rules to maximise the number of eligible donors
  • #PledgeAPint highlights how blanket restrictions prevent thousands of pints of blood being donated
  • Luke Pollard MP backs the Freedom To Donate campaign in calling for an individualised risk-based system

As part of World Blood Donor Day today, Luke Pollard MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport is backing Freedom To Donate’s #PledgeAPint campaign. The campaign is seeking to highlight the number of people who would like to donate blood, but are unable to due to current restrictions which mainly target gay men.

The current rules categorise donors based on their sexuality, which limits the ability for people to donate. As Secretary of the APPG for Blood Donation, Luke Pollard MP believes in an individualised system which assesses each potential donor based on risk would mean thousands more pints of blood could be donated.

Luke Pollard MP said:

Donating blood is incredibly important. It doesn’t take long and could literally save someone’s life. I am happy to be celebrating World Blood Donor Day today, but there are still restrictions in place which limit who can donate blood.

 

These restrictions need to be looked at again, and that is why I am supporting Freedom To Donate’s #PledgeAPint campaign. The campaign shows that there are thousands of pints of blood that could be donated but are being missed, due to blanket rules mainly aimed at gay men.

 

I want to see an individualised risk-based policy that assesses each person’s suitability to donate, rather than blanket rules which categorises donors based on their sexuality. This would increase the amount of people who can carry out the life-saving act of donating blood, especially men.

 

It is incredibly important that people continue to #GiveBlood. We must make sure that we maximise the number of eligible blood donors through an individual assessment-based system.

 

Thousands of pints of blood are ready to be donated, that is why I am backing the #PledgeAPint campaign today on World Blood Donor Day.

You can sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/uk-uk-government-apply-the-same-regulations-to-all-those-donating-blood-regardless-of-sexuality

You can read about the #PledgeAPint campaign here: https://www.freedomtodonate.co.uk/pledge-to-donate/

Link to Instagram Link to Twitter Link to YouTube Link to Facebook Link to LinkedIn Link to Snapchat Close Fax Website Location Phone Email Calendar Building Search