People currently barred from donating blood in Australia will soon be able to roll up their sleeves after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved Red Cross Lifeblood to receive donations from people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996.
The outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s prompted Australia to ban blood donations from potentially affected people in December, 2000.
Executive director of Donor Services for Red Cross Lifeblood, Cath Stone, said that ban had today been lifted by the TGA.
"Our clinical team have been working for well over 12 months now on getting the evidence to support our submission that went in only last year," Ms Stone said.
"The research has been ongoing because where we look to make changes to deferral it has to be underpinned by the latest scientific evidence.
"We're delighted for that change to now be made."
The TGA confirmed the ban had been lifted.
"This decision, which relates to both blood and plasma products, was based on a detailed evaluation of epidemiological data, the relevant scientific literature and was supported by expert advice," a spokesperson said.
"Lifeblood is currently working with its stakeholders on the implementation of this decision."
What kind of difference does it make?
Ms Stone said there were already 11 million Australians who are eligible to give blood, but only about half a million actually do.
She said it was not yet clear how many extra donors the lifting of the ban would unlock.
"We have a rough idea of numbers but we're really looking forward to seeing all the people who have been interested in giving blood," she said.
"It's the number one question we get about blood deferrals, so I think we'll have more to say about numbers once we get through our implementation plan.
"This has been a strong question from those in the community that want to give blood."
When can people give blood?
Ms Stone said it could be some time before people previously affected by the ban could actually give blood as Red Cross Lifeblood makes changes to its screening process to accommodate the change in its clientele.
"When you go in to donate blood there's a questionnaire you need to fill in and that's a really important part of our blood safety measures," she said.
"All of those systems updates need to occur and we've got consultation to do around the states and territories.
"We're really looking forward to being able to come back in the near future and give a date on when we can welcome all our new donors into the centres and celebrate with some English fare."
Ms Stone said Red Cross Lifeblood expects to begin receiving donations from people previously barred before the end of 2022.
