(Prelims: Current Affairs in India)
(Main Exam, General Studies Paper- 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections) |
Reference
Recently, the Supreme Court has issued a formal notice to the Central Government on a petition challenging the denial of blood donation to homosexual persons, transgenders and women sex workers (LGBTQ+).
Blood donation rules in India
- The ‘Guidelines for Blood Donor Selection & Blood Donor Referral, 2017’ was released by the National Blood Transfusion Council and National AIDS Control Organisation on October 11, 2017 for the process of blood donation in India.
- As per these guidelines, for safe blood transfusion, blood banks should follow the following basic principles:
- Blood should only be accepted from voluntary, non-remuneration, low-risk, safe and healthy donors.
- Efforts should be made to encourage and retain adequate numbers of healthy repeat donors.
- Donors should be properly acknowledged and thanked for their contribution.
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Key Facts
- The first blood donation bank in India was established in Kolkata in 1945.
- Voluntary blood donation in India started in 1954.
- HIV testing was made mandatory at the time of blood donation in India in 1988.
- The National Blood Policy was formulated in 2002.
- The ‘Blood Donor Selection and Donor Referral Guidelines, 2017’ were released in 2017.
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Exclusion of LGBTQ+ from blood donation
- Clause 12 of the ‘Blood Donor Selection and Donor Referral Guidelines, 2017’ mandates that ‘the donor should be free from transfusion-transmitted diseases, and should not be at risk of HIV, hepatitis B or C infection, such as transgender persons, homosexual persons and female sex workers, etc.’
- Thus, these guidelines permanently bar transgender persons, female sex workers and persons in same-sex relationships from becoming blood donors.
Why this provision is unfair
- Such a blanket ban violates the right to equality, dignity and life protected under Articles 14, 15, 17 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.
- From a scientific perspective, such a strict ban on blood donation is based on the assumption that a particular group of individuals may suffer from sexually transmitted diseases.
- Medical technology and education, especially in the field of hematology, have progressed very rapidly in the 21st century and donors are screened before every blood donation.
- Donors are screened before blood transfusion in hematology.
- In such an era, a strict ban arising out of a highly discriminatory attitude towards homosexual persons is not rational.
National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC)
- As per the direction of the Supreme Court, the National Blood Transfusion Council was formed in the year 1996.
- Its objective is to promote voluntary blood donation, ensure safe blood transfusion, provide infrastructure to blood centers, develop human resources and prepare and implement blood policy.
National Aids Control Organisation (NACO)
- NACO is a department operating under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
- It controls and leads the program for the prevention of HIV/AIDS in India through 35 control communities.
- As soon as AIDS was detected for the first time in India in the year 1987, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare formed the 'National AIDS Committee'.
- India's first National AIDS Control Program (1992-1999) was started in the year 1992 and NACO was formed to implement it.
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