Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason people who have used tanning injections are permanently unable to donate blood.

The safety of blood is of the upmost importance. Patients that receive blood donations can be particularly vulnerable to infections. In the United Kingdom, the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 mandate permanent deferral from blood donation for anyone with a history of non-prescribed intravenous or intramuscular drug use. The Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 are available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/50/schedule/part/3/paragraph/2n3

This is also reflected in the Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) guidelines, the Addiction and Drug Abuse guideline and the Blood Safety Entry guideline, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/ad001-addiction-and-drug-abuse

https://www.transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/bl008-blood-safety-entry

Injections can carry a risk of blood-borne illness. To preserve the safety of patients who receive blood donations, measures are taken to reduce the risk of transmitting blood-borne infections, including cleanliness and safety standards. However, as tanning injections are not well regulated, measures that would normally be used to prevent blood-borne infection cannot be assessed.