England has relaxed blood-donation rules for gay and bisexual men.
Gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood more easily from next summer following a landmark policy change, The Guardian reported.
Men in a long-term relationship with another man will be able to donate blood from next summer, NHS Blood and Transplant said. The regulations currently require all men who have had sex with men to abstain from sex for three months to give blood.
The BBC noted that if donors have had more than one sexual partner or a new partner in the last three months, they can donate as long—as they have not had anal sex.
A lifetime ban on gay men donating was reduced to a one-year abstinence from sex requirement in 2011; it was then cut to a three-month requirement in 2017.
In the United States, gay and bisexual men still have a three-month abstinence requirement.
