In spite of the current drive to recruit blood donors, the ban on donations from sexually active gay men will continue, in the interests of preventing HIV transmissions through transfusion, says the New Zealand Blood Service. Last week the Blood Service launched a fresh drive to recruit 30,000 new donors, to replace those lost each year, and to provide for increasing demand, reported the New Zealand Herald. Last year, the Director of the Blood Service, Dr Peter Flannagan told GayNZ.com that there was no blood supply shortage and the safest option was to continue to ban donations from gay men, in spite of improved blood screening technologies. Nothing has changed since then, in spite of the recent recruitment drive, says Paul Hayes, spokesperson for the Blood Service. “We do not have a blood shortage and… we do not anticipate a blood shortage,” he said. “What we do have is a situation where we always need to recruit more eligible donors to replace those [that] can no longer donate…” The Blood Service stands by its policy of not accepting donations from sexually active gay men. “In the context of blood borne viruses, including HIV, donor selection criteria are based on the known pattern of blood borne viruses in the community. Currently in New Zealand sex between men is the most frequently identified cause of both HIV and AIDS,” which is why “men who have had sex with other men in the past ten years are prevented from donating blood,” Hayes said. Hayes said this was in keeping with best practice in developed countries, and no case of HIV infection through transfusion has been reported since the policy was formed in 1985.