Iceland's parliament passes a law that will allow gay men to donate blood

The Icelandic parliament has approved a resolution allowing gay men to donate blood for the first time, according to RÚV.

In reacting to the news, the chairman of the Icelandic Blood Donor Association, Davíð Stefán Guðmundsson said, “We embrace processes and technologies that make it possible for more people to give blood. Society benefits when many individuals are allowed to give blood and any law that empowers people to do good in the community is welcomed.” Lately, the Blood Bank of Iceland is facing increasing demand and has made effort to get more blood donors.

According to Davíð, there is a considerably smaller number of female blood donors in Iceland. In comparison to other Nordic nations, where almost half of the entire blood donations are made by females, only around a third of collections in Iceland are made by females.

The requirement for blood donors is constantly evolving. “We particularly encourage individuals using some medications who may have been denied the opportunity to donate to try again because those requirements may have evolved with rising technology and better process.”

The Blood Bank offers a health test on its website that anybody aged 18 to 65 can do and come in for a visit to see if they are eligible to continue donating blood.