Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul;120(7):664-670.
doi: 10.1111/vox.70043. Epub 2025 May 12.

Why men who have sex with men in New Zealand intend to donate or not donate blood

Carl Webber  1 , Koson Tony Sriamporn  1 , Sarah L Morley  2 , Stephen Ritchie  3 , Brooke M Hollingshead  4 , Susan McAllister  5 , Patricia Priest  5 , Mark Fisher  6 , Peter Saxton  1
Affiliations

Why men who have sex with men in New Zealand intend to donate or not donate blood

Carl Webber et al. Vox Sang. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Background and objectives: As blood donor deferral policies in many countries transition from blanket time-based approaches towards individualized risk-based approaches, blood services need to understand whether and why men who have sex with men (MSM) intend to donate blood. Such knowledge can help blood services develop communication strategies with a population they have historically excluded. We examined why MSM in New Zealand (NZ) intended or not to donate blood.

Materials and methods: In a large and diverse NZ online human immunodeficiency virus behavioural surveillance survey (n = 3838), we asked participants: 'In your own words, please tell us why you intend to or don't intend to donate blood in the future?' We interpreted 2363 responses by MSM using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: We constructed four themes to explain why MSM intend to donate blood: (1) helping out by donating blood, (2) donor ineligibility and hesitancy, (3) considerations of individual and collective risk and (4) discrimination, exclusion, frustration and resentment. Our study showed that whether or not MSM in NZ assessed blanket deferral policies as discriminatory, many MSM in NZ were altruistically and civically motivated to donate blood. Some MSM were reluctant to donate because they were resentful or mistrustful of the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) or believed that donating blood was inconsistent with their indigenous values.

Conclusion: Further research is required to enhance communication, improve MSM's understanding of the donation process and residual risks and accommodate the cultural values of prospective indigenous donors.

Keywords: New Zealand; blood donation policy; intention; men who have sex with men; thematic qualitative analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Clackett S, Seed CR, Prestage G, Hammoud MA, Hoad V, Saxton P, et al. Attitudes and willingness to donate blood among gay and bisexual men in Australia. Transfusion. 2020;60:965–973. - PubMed
    1. Saxton P, Sriamporn KT, Morley S, Priest P, McAllister S, Ritchie S. SPOTS blood donation community report. Auckland: University of Auckland; 2024.
    1. Canadian Blood Services . Sexual Behaviour‐Based Screening. Available from: https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/am-i-eligible-donate-blood/sexual-behaviou.... Last accessed 26 Nov 2024.
    1. NHS Blood and Transplant . Blood Safety: Donor and Patient Safety is Very Important to Us. Available from: https://www.blood.co.uk/the-donation-process/further-information/your-sa.... Last accessed 26 Nov 2024.
    1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) . Recommendations for evaluating donor eligibility using individual risk‐based questions to reduce the risk of human immunodeficiency virus transmission by blood and blood products. Silver Spring, MD: FDA; 2015.