The
Israeli Health Ministry has said it would lift restrictions on accepting
blood donations from residents of Ethiopian origin, according to
reports by the Israeli media.
The
controversial policy that prevented Ethiopian-born Israelis, gay men,
and older Israelis from donating blood will be abolished, the Health
Ministry announced on Thursday.
The
decision comes 18 months after a committee of experts, led by the head
of Haifa University’s School of Public Health, Professor Manfred Green,
said the restrictions were no longer necessary thanks to new
blood-testing technology. Leading health public health agencies in
Europe and the United States, including the Food and Drug
Administration, have revised their policies on similar groups, the
professor said.
“Israel
will soon have an upgraded ability to test for hepatitis B, hepatitis C
and HIV,” the committee wrote. “This will shorten the window period for
detecting infections and thus reduce the risk posed by blood donations
from the general public and from those particular groups,” according to
the online Israel Hayom.
Under
the previous policy, blood donations from Ethiopian Israelis were
limited to those who were born in Israel. Under the new rules,
Ethiopian-born Israelis will be allowed to donate provided that they
have not been in the African country — or in any other country with a
relatively high prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C — for 12
consecutive months. This condition is already in place for all other
population groups in Israel, the report said.
Fentahun
Assefa-Dawit, the CEO of the Ethiopian-Israeli advocacy group Tebeka
(“Advocate of Justice” in Amharic), also welcomed the decision.
“I believe this decision was the right and necessary thing to do, and I am glad that the Health Ministry righted this wrong
after many years of advocacy on this matter,” he said. “We will
continue our campaign to make sure this decision is fully implemented.”
Ethiopian
Israelis complain about being victims of racism in a country they
consider a holy land. Blood collected from them was dumped in 2013
sparking an angry protest demonstration by the Ethiopian Jewish
community.
