Some laud the Health Ministry decision made last week while other lament it comes decades too late. The Health Ministry has approved accepting blood donations from Ethiopian-born Israelis, ending a policy banning acceptance of blood donations from them.

The matter became a media item during a Knesset blood drive in 2013 when MK (Yesh Atid) Penina Tamanu-Shata was told she cannot donate blood because she was born in Ethiopia. She was astounded, stating “I am good enough to serve my country but for some reason, I’m not good enough to donate blood. It is sad that after all these decades the state hasn’t learned not to distinguish blood from blood or to not treat people equally…”

In line with the new ministry regulation, Ethiopian-born Israelis may now donate blood for as long as they have not visited Ethiopia over the past year prior to the blood donation. Certain other regulations pertaining to blood donations have been amended too, including the acceptance of blood from men maintaining a toeiva lifestyle for as long as they have not had such relations R”L for a year prior to donating blood.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)