A longstanding ban that prevents gay and bisexual men from giving blood is being reviewed and could be overturned as early as next year, the Government has said.

Men who have had sex with other men are currently banned for life from donating blood, under measures designed to reduce the risk of passing on infections such as HIV. But gay rights campaigners have condemned the policy as being irrational.

The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto) meets today to discuss evidence for and against exclusion of high-risk donors as part of an official review of the policy.

The committee is due to make its final recommendations to Government next year, after considering the data from national blood services, other countries and research into public opinion.

Currently, a man is prevented from donating blood if he admits having had sex with another man at any time in their lives, even if the encounter was many years ago and they have since tested negative for HIV. Women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with another man are also barred.

While all blood donations are screened for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), hepatitis B and C and syphilis before they can be used, very recent infections may not be detected.

Health officials have argued that the only way to protect patients against this “window” of early infections is through careful donor selection. Since 1985 only two patients have been infected with HIV through blood transfusions.

The NHS Blood and Transplant agency has called for the number of blood donations to increase by 50 per cent to address an unexpected shortfall after the swine flu pandemic this winter.

Campaigners argue that the lifetime ban is unnecessary and that accepting donations from those who are HIV negative or those who have not recently had unprotected sex would boost vital blood supplies.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, said: “This review of the blanket, lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood is long overdue. The truth is that most gay and bisexual men do not have HIV and will never have HIV. Their blood is safe.”

Countries such as New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Japan and Australia have recently overturned lifetime bans and allow gay men to donate in certain circumstances.

Others prevented from giving blood include anyone who has had unprotected sex with a prostitute or an intravenous drug user in the past year; or those who have had unprotected sex in a high-risk HIV region such as sub-Saharan Africa in the past 12 months.

The majority (55 per cent) of the 7,734 new HIV diagnoses in 2007 were among people who probably became infected through heterosexual sex, but of these more than three quarters were infected outside Britain.

By contrast, more than 1 in 10 gay men in London are living with HIV, and the figure is 1 in 25 among gay men in the rest of the country, meaning that these groups have the highest risk of new HIV infection within the UK.

The Terrence Higgins Trust, the HIV and sexual health charity, said that it accepted the ban for the time being. “We believe that the current policy of the National Blood Service was based on the best available evidence when it was drawn up.

“Only when an expert review has re-evaluated risks to the safety of the blood supply should the current policy be changed in line with new evidence.”

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