Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of replacing the lifetime blood donation deferral for people who have used tanning injections with a fixed-term exclusion period similar to those in place for (a) tattoos and (b) piercings.

There are no plans to update the deferral policy for tanning injections. Unlike tattooing and piercing, tanning injections are not well regulated. Given injectable tanning products work internally, they do not meet the definition of a cosmetic product and are therefore not regulated via the UK Cosmetic Regulation. Regulation ensures safety standards are maintained to reduce the risk of transmitting a blood-borne infection.

To protect the safety of the patient who receives the blood donation, 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, as per the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005, with further information available at the following link:

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