A one-day symposium on the strategies to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections following the removal of deferral criteria related to sexual orientation.

Objectives of the event

  1. To favour knowledge transfer, this one-day symposium will invite experts from various countries to share strategies to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections following the removal of deferral criteria related to sexual orientation. In particular, experts from countries that have moved to a gender-neutral, individualized risk assessment will share their experience, including the steps that were undertaken to document the impact of this paradigm shift. The similarities and differences in eligibility criteria across jurisdictions, and the rationales that were used to justify these criteria, will be highlighted. 
  2. To support future recommendations and better align future research, the experts and stakeholders will be invited to discuss the impacts of various risk mitigation strategies on blood safety and costs, the impacts on the size of the donor pool, how these strategies are perceived by new donors, and how these changes have been monitored.
  3. To foster productive discussions, key stakeholders, including governmental partners, will be invited to share their views on the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections following the removal of deferral criteria related to sexual orientation and what challenges lie ahead.
  4. To shed light on other future or immediate needs regarding blood safety, key stakeholders will discuss measures implemented to mitigate the risks associated with pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis (oral or injectable) among new eligible donors), post-implementation surveillance, and the potential use of pathogen reduction technologies to remove behavioural, individualized donor screening questions.
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