PEOPLE who spent more than six months living in the UK between 1980 and 1996, during the 'mad cow disease' crisis, can now give blood in Australia.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved an application from the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood to remove the restriction, paving the way for 18,000 new donors to give blood and plasma.
The decision to dump the rule, which came into effect in Dec 2000, was made after an in-depth risk assessment and modelling by the University of NSW's Kirby Institute, found it was no longer needed.
"This excellent outcome demonstrates the value of careful risk analyses, to ensure that restrictions on blood donor eligibility achieve the right balance between safety and sufficiency in the blood supply," the Kirby Institute's Scientia Professor, John Kaldor, said.
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