"
Anyone can donate blood
," said Tuesday, February 15 François Toujas, president of the French Blood Establishment (EFS), while blood supplies remain too low after two years of health crisis.
Read alsoCall for donation: blood supplies below the safety threshold
“
I can donate my blood as soon as I am vaccinated.
I can donate my blood whether I have a health pass or whether I don't have a health pass.
I can finally give my blood seven days after the start of the Covid if I had the Covid
”, he detailed on France 2, recalling that the Covid, respiratory virus, is not transmitted by transfusion.
“
We must quickly find satisfactory reserves.
They were this morning at just over 82,000, we must quickly reach 95,000, 100,000 pockets of stock
, ”he explained.
The EFS recently launched a call for donations, the pandemic having generated cancellations of collections and a weaker mobilization of donors.
The wave linked to the Omicron variant added two critical elements: the self-deferral of certain blood donors and a high rate of absenteeism of EFS staff, the public establishment responsible for collecting blood had then indicated.
Blood donation soon open to homosexuals
In addition, homosexuals will be able to donate their blood from March 16, “
under the same conditions as the others.
The question of the sexual partner will no longer be asked
, ”recalled the president.
The government announced in early January the abandonment of any reference in the donation criteria to sexual orientation.
Since July 2016, homosexual men could theoretically donate blood, a gesture which had been prohibited to them since 1983 due to the risk of transmission of AIDS.
But this possibility remained subject until now to a period of sexual abstinence (initially fixed at one year, before being reduced in 2019 to four months) which had to be declared during the preliminary interview.
A list of collection points can be viewed on the dondesang.efs.sante.fr website or on the Don de sang app.
The EFS regularly launches such appeals for donations.