Canadian Health
Department Bars Organ Donations from Gay Men

A prominent AIDS doctor has criticized a Canadian health regulation that prohibits gay men from donating organs, saying the ban is scientifically unsound and could hinder critical transplant shortages, The Toronto Star reported Wednesday.

Health Canada, the Canadian government's public health department, began enforcing the ban in December. The regulation, which resembles blood-donor restrictions, bars organ donations from sexually active gay men, hepatitis victims, and intravenous drug users.

Philip Berger, head of family and community medicine at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said the rules were unfair to thousands of conscientious gays. "To exclude bona fide donors because they've had sex with another man would exclude a lot of people who are no risk at all," he told The Toronto Star. "Zero risk."

But Dr. Gary Levy, head of the country's largest organ transplant program, says the ban only formalizes preexisting precautions. Still, Levy systematically turning away gays makes little sense. "I personally believe someone who has been in a monogamous relationship for 30 years, regardless of the gender of their partner, is a safe situation," Levy told The Star.

Ultimately, though, Levy said transplant surgeons will continue to make the final decision organs are safe to use. His program, he said, has used many organs from known gay men after doctors determined that the donor's sexual behavior did not pose a significant HIV risk. (The Advocate)