■ Professor Anne Mitchell photo courtesy Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria

HOBART  –  August 12, 2008  –  An inquiry into the current ban on gay blood donation has heard that safe sex is effective in reducing HIV risk.

Social researcher, Associate Professor Anne Mitchell of Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria, today told the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal that risky sexual activity is not as widespread amongst gay and bisexual men as some studies suggest.

“The most compelling evidence of all for the effectiveness of safe sex is the simple fact that ...when safe sex was taken on by men who have sex with men (msm) the escalation in infection rates was pegged back,” Professor Mitchell said.  [Full Witness Statement to the Tribunal by Prof. Anne Mitchell]

“This made it immediately clear that the risk of HIV infection was not associated with male to male sex per se, rather it was associated with unsafe male to male sex.”

Responding to studies cited by the Red Cross which show higher rates of unsafe sex and multiple partners amongst men who have sex with men, Professor Mitchell pointed out that almost all these studies were designed to focus on risk-taking behaviour and not on the broader gay community, which is more diverse.

“Many of the samples in studies cited by the Red Cross are very small, recruited from men at high risk, and explicitly exclude men who practise safe sex in monogamous relationships – they are not representative of all men who have sex with men,” she pointed out

Prof. Mitchell noted a recent study which found that the chances of heterosexual HIV transmission may have been underestimated by 300%.

“In those whose behaviour is exclusively heterosexual, safe sex practices are less common ...if there was an outbreak of HIV amongst heterosexuals in Australia it would clearly spread more rapidly than it would in the gay community.”

Professor Mitchell was giving evidence in a case taken by young gay man, Michael Cain, who is seeking to have the current blanket ban on gay blood donation replaced with a new policy that screens donors for the safety of their sexual activity.

Under questioning from the Red Cross, Prof Mitchell said she believes it is possible to craft a set of questions which would identify high risk activity.

Prof Mitchell also noted in her witness statement to the Tribunal that rejecting all gay men from blood donation stigmatises them.

“There is no evidence anywhere that people become gay by choice,” she told the inquiry."

“The deferral of men who have sex with men is based on who they are rather than what they have recently done and can be likened to deferral on the grounds of being Jewish or Indigenous.”

Hearings continue tomorrow with evidence to be taken from two bio-ethicists, Dr Scott Halpern and Dr Leslie Cannold.

SEE ALSO

HIV Infection From Gay Blood Donation Likely “Once Every 5769 Years”.  The Tribunal hearing a case against the Australian Red Cross gay blood ban has been told today that if the current bar on gay blood donation is lifted, a single HIV-positive blood donation from a gay man will slip through clinical screening in Tasmania once every 197 years.  (UK Gay News, August 15, 2008)

Full Witness Statement to the Tribunal by Prof. Anne Mitchell  (UK Gay News, August 12, 2008).

Bio-Ethicists Address Gay Blood Donor Hearings.  Two bio-ethicists today addressed the inquiry underway in Tasmania into gay blood donation. (UK Gay News, August 13, 2008)

 Full witness statement of Prof. Anne Mitchell. (UK Gay News, August 12, 2008)

Gay Blood Ban Hearing: Red Cross Accused of “Scare Tactics”.   Gay activists have accused the Red Cross of scare tactics on the first day of a hearing into Australia’s gay blood ban, in Hobart today.  (UK Gay News, August 7, 2008)

Groundbreaking Gay Blood Ban Case Starts Thursday.  The first full hearing in a groundbreaking gay blood ban case begins in Hobart, Tasmania, on Thursday before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.  (UK Gay News, August 5, 2008)

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