Even with low blood stocks available for donations and amid the new coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Health maintains the ban on the MSM population (men who have sex with men) from donating blood if the potential donor has had sex in the last 12 months. The information is from BBC News Brazil.
In a note sent to the website, the Ministry informed that “rules established in GM/MS Consolidation Ordinance No. 5, of 28/09/2016, which replaces Ordinance No. 158/2016, aim, above all, at transfusion safety, remaining unchanged.”
In practice, by maintaining the Anvisa (Health Surveillance Agency) resolution, the Ministry of Health prevents people infected with Covid-19 from receiving blood donations if they need it.
According to the BBC, In the United States there is the same 12-month rule – but, amid the pandemic, it was reduced to three.
