A statement on the UK Prime Minister's website claims some gay men flout blood donation guidelines and reveals that 40 donations a year are infected with HIV. A petition on the site calls for an end to discrimination against gay and bisexual men by the National Blood Service. HIV is now at its fast growing rate in the heterosexual community but the NBS regard all men who have sex with men as too high-risk to accept blood from. A statement on the No 10 website responding to the petition says the government has a duty to ensure a balance between risk reduction and security of supply. The petition, signed by over 500 people, said: "The polices of the NBS are outdated, making decisions as to whether or not your allowed to give blood on how honest you are." The official government response on the No 10 site reads: "The self-exclusion criterion concerning gay men has been reached through a close analysis of the epidemiology of confirmed HIV and Hepatitis B positive tests among blood samples from people donating blood at United Kingdom Blood Service sessions. "The Government has been advised that every year from the analysis of nearly three million donations collected by the United Kingdom and Irish Blood Services, about 40 donations are confirmed to be positive for HIV. "Of these, a third to a half are given by men who, following further enquiries by the NBS, reveal that they are gay men. "These figures indicate that some gay men are still giving blood in spite of the current rules. "Although safer sex campaigns have had an impact, it is still considered that the risk of gay men being infected with HIV remains sufficiently high to include the criterion that they should not donate blood. "Unfortunately, this means there will be healthy gay men who would be suitable for giving blood but who are excluded by the rule. "However, it is not practical to expect donor session staff to be able to differentiate between gay men with lower or with higher risk lifestyles, so all gay men have to be excluded." The ban on gay and bisexual men has been removed in many countries, among them Italy, Sweden, South Africa, Portugal and Spain. Here in New Zealand and in Australia, men who have sex with men are barred from donating blood. Ref: Pinknews.co.uk