{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T19:08:54Z","timestamp":1784833734819,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001505","name":"Health Research Council of New Zealand","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["20\/887"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20\/887"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001505","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001504","name":"New Zealand Ministry of Health","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["HIV Behavioural surveillance 2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HIV Behavioural surveillance 2022"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001504","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Burnett Foundation Aotearoa","award":["Fellowship"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Fellowship"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To protect the blood supply, many countries defer higher-risk donors such as men who have had sex with men (MSM) in the last 3 months. However, this may be unnecessarily restrictive and increase non-compliance risks. New Zealand (NZ) has shifted from this approach to individual donor assessment (IDA), but the potential impact is poorly understood. We aimed to estimate the increase in blood donor eligibility and examine the characteristics of newly eligible MSM.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We used data from SPOTS, a large national cross-sectional online survey of MSM. Items included socio-demographics, blood donation history, views and preferences about blood donation, sexual behaviours and drug use. We described blood donation engagement and estimated the proportion eligible to donate blood under three scenarios (previous NZ policy; UK-style: IDA with chemsex deferral; Canada-style; IDA without chemsex deferral). We then examined the characteristics of potentially newly eligible MSM donors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of the 3,235 participants, 43.1% had ever donated blood, 82.0% were interested in donating, 86.1% preferred an IDA-style policy, and 80.6% intended to donate, should they become eligible. We estimated 13% were eligible to donate under the previous NZ policy, rising to 37% under a UK-style IDA, and 41% under NZ\u2019s new IDA policy. In NZ\u2019s new IDA policy, 30% of currently ineligible participants will become eligible. Compared to participants currently eligible, newly eligible MSM were more likely to be aged 30\u201344 (OR 1.8, 1.4\u20132.4), tertiary educated (OR 1.4, 1.1\u20131.8), spend a lot of their free time with gay men (OR 4.3, 3.2\u20135.9), and identify as gay only (OR 2.5, 1.96\u20133.2). As expected, a high proportion of newly eligible MSM were in a regular same-sex relationship.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>NZ could triple eligible MSM donors with its new IDA policy. Findings from this research are relevant internationally as blood services plan IDA implementation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0354717","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T18:59:52Z","timestamp":1784833192000},"page":"e0354717","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Eligibility to donate blood under an individual donor assessment policy: A national cross-sectional study of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Aotearoa, New Zealand"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8696-0755","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Peter J.","family":"Saxton","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Celesti","family":"Tan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2999-4737","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sarah","family":"Morley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patricia","family":"Priest","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7881-6622","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Susan M.","family":"McAllister","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephen","family":"Ritchie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janine","family":"Paynter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin","family":"Haunui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cameron","family":"Leakey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Rich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Fisher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Koson Tony","family":"Sriamporn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0354717.ref001","volume-title":"Statement of intent","author":"New Zealand Blood and Organ Service","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0354717.ref002","unstructured":"Independent Expert Review Group. 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Behavioural donor deferral criteria review: Final report to the New Zealand Blood Service. 2008."},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0354717.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1071\/SH10087","article-title":"Increase in HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in New Zealand from a stable low period","volume":"8","author":"PJW Saxton","year":"2011","journal-title":"Sex Health"},{"key":"pone.0354717.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2458-12-92","article-title":"Actual and undiagnosed HIV prevalence in a community sample of men who have sex with men in Auckland, New Zealand","volume":"12","author":"PJW Saxton","year":"2012","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0354717.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"376","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2021-055186","article-title":"Population rates of HIV, gonorrhoea and syphilis diagnoses by sexual orientation in New Zealand","volume":"98","author":"PJW Saxton","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sex Transm Infect"},{"key":"pone.0354717.ref009","volume-title":"HIV & AIDS \u2013 New Zealand, Issue 84","author":"HIV Epidemiology Group","year":"2025"},{"key":"pone.0354717.ref010","volume-title":"Trends in combination HIV prevention and HIV testing 2002-2022: Research brief","author":"P Saxton","year":"2024"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0354717.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"664","DOI":"10.1111\/vox.70043","article-title":"Why men who have sex with men in New Zealand intend to donate or not donate blood","volume":"120","author":"C Webber","year":"2025","journal-title":"Vox Sang"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0354717.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1586","DOI":"10.1111\/trf.18352","article-title":"Openness about sexuality predicts deferral policy noncompliance among recent MSM (men who have sex with men) blood donors: An exploratory analysis","volume":"65","author":"KT Sriamporn","year":"2025","journal-title":"Transfusion"},{"key":"pone.0354717.ref013","unstructured":"New Zealand Blood and Organ Service. NZBS one step closer to introducing individualised donor assessments. https:\/\/www.nzblood.co.nz\/news\/2025\/nzbs-one-step-closer-to-introducing-individualised-donor-assessments 2025."},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0354717.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"834","DOI":"10.1111\/trf.18195","article-title":"HIV incidence in US first-time blood donors during 12 and 3 month deferral policy periods between 2015 and 2023 before implementation of individual donor assessment","volume":"65","author":"E Grebe","year":"2025","journal-title":"Transfusion"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0354717.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1150","DOI":"10.1111\/vox.13726","article-title":"Impact of recent criteria changes for the deferral criteria specific to men who have sex with men in France","volume":"119","author":"C Sauvage","year":"2024","journal-title":"Vox 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Public health and viral load suppression - UNAIDS Explainer","author":"Joint United Nations Programme on HIV\/AIDS","year":"2024"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0354717.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"628","DOI":"10.1111\/vox.12790","article-title":"Undetectable does not equal untransmittable for HIV and blood transfusion","volume":"114","author":"IB Gosbell","year":"2019","journal-title":"Vox Sang"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0354717.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"712","DOI":"10.1111\/trf.70097","article-title":"Gender-neutral assessment in Australia: Acceptance and eligibility among current donors","volume":"66","author":"BM Masser","year":"2026","journal-title":"Transfusion"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0354717","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T18:59:59Z","timestamp":1784833199000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0354717"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Daniel","family":"Demant","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0354717","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]}}}