It was in the early 1980s, in the midst of the HIV/Aids epidemic when several countries around the world imposed a ban on blood donations coming from men who had sexual relations with other men.
As the mystery of HIV/Aids remained unsolved, governments, in an attempt to avoid using infected blood, alongside banning supplies donated by drug users and prisoners, also banned gay and bisexual males even if they were healthy.
Any man who has had sex with another man at any point since 1977 was prevented from donating blood. Greece was one of the last countries in the world not allowing gay/bisexual men to donate blood.
As of Monday, Greece’s ban has been lifted, following the efforts of Health Minister Thanos Plevris his deputy, Mina Gaga who have requested the National Blood Transfusion Center to review the documents.
A ministerial decree creating a new form that prospective blood donors must complete has been created removing homosexual acts from the list of criteria debarring someone from donating blood.
The next step to make this official is its publication in the Government Gazette.