Honduras, Luxembourg Take Steps to Expand Donor Eligibility
December 10, 2024
The governments of Honduras and Luxembourg recently undertook steps to expand donor eligibility in their respective countries.
In Honduras, an executive agreement published in La Gaceta, the country’s official newspaper, lifts the ban on blood donation by LGBTQ+ individuals.
Reportar sin Miedo, an independent media outlet focused on women, youth and LGBTQ+ issues in Honduras,
announced the change (in Spanish) on Dec. 5.
The agreement updates the country’s 1999 “Technical Standard for the Management of Blood and Blood Components,” which had permanently excluded “homosexuals, bisexuals, [and] heterosexuals with risky sexual behavior,” among others, from donating blood.
In Luxembourg, RTL Today
reported that Minister of Health Martine Deprez announced plans to reform blood donor eligibility in the country as part of plans to nationalize Luxembourg’s blood donation system. Since 2021, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men have been eligible to donate blood 12 months after their most recent sexual contact with another man.
