Image source, Scottish Parliament

That's all from Holyrood Live for Tuesday 29 November 2016.

We'll be back tomorrow morning.

Have a good night. 

The minister says that the blood transfusion service policy is under review.

Ms Watt says blood safety should never be compromised.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

She says this is what the current deferral policy seeks to do.

One infection of blood would be one too many, she says.

Ms Watt says the government will look at the results of the review.

Mental Health Minister Maureen Watt welcomes the intention of the motion and of course the NHS needs as much blood as it can get.

Ms Watt says the Scottish government takes equality very seriously, however this is a matter of the safety of the blood supply.

She says she knows some men think they are being discriminated against, but she insists the deferral is based on current epidemiology.

She says people are not deferred on the basis of sexual preferences but on the basis of safety.

The minister says the deferral of men who have sex with men is because they have a higher risk of HIV and because it is not always possible to detect the infection in blood.

Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene says we cannot afford to exclude any potential donors and men who have sex with men should not be excluded by their sexual orientation.

Mr Greene says he recently learned the number of heterosexuals with HIV is rising therefore there is a misconception about the virus. 

He says he is a card carrying organ donor but has never given blood due to not wanting to face the stigma and personal questions about sexual preference.

He says the system should "keep us safe and keep us equal."

Labour MSP Colin Smyth says current stocks of O negative blood are below the target level.

Mr Smyth says more needs to be done to encourage those who don't give blood to do so.

Scottish Conservative MSP Miles Briggs says many men who have sex with men including those men in monogamous relationships remain disappointed that they are not permitted to donate blood.

Mr Biggs says the UK government have initiated a review of the rules of blood donation. 

The Tory MSP thanks those who work in the blood transfusion service for saving lives.

He says the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service says donors have decreased by 30%.

Mr Briggs says there needs to be new and imaginative ways to convince people to donate. 

Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie says the primary objectives of the blood transfusion service should maximise safety and supply.

Mr Harvie says all aspects of our public services have to avoid discrimination.

The Scottish Greens MSP says many people could give blood safely but choose not to because of the way they feel they may be treated.

Image source, bbc

He highlights the "irrational criteria" of the blood transfusion service.

Mr Harvie thanks all the many people who do donate blood and the people that deliver that service.

He says we should value everybody who chooses to give blood and change the irrational rules

SNP MSP Chrstina McKelvie says there are clinical reasons why some can receive blood but not give it.

Ms McKelvie says HIV Scotland says every blood donation in Scotland is screened.

She says a man who has had sex with one man in the past 12 months is less likely to have HIV than someone who is permitted to donate blood that has had a number of partners during that space of time. 

Image source, Science Photo Library

SNP MSP Rona Mackay says excluding men who have sex with men (MSM) threatens the level of blood supply.

Ms Mackay says Scotland needs to go further to make sure all people can donate blood.

The SNP MSP says health is devolved to Scotland but blood donation rules are in line with those in England and Wales.

She says gay men can join the bone marrow register and donate stem cells. 

Ms Mackay says a transgender person who no longer identifies as a man is also exluded from donating blood because that person is considered as a MSM (Men who have Sex with Men). 

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Rona Mackay says she is delighted this hugely important issue is being debated in the chamber.

Ms Mackay says the first minister said at the SNP conference that inclusion was the priority and she agrees.

Image source, Thinkstock

A ban on gay men donating blood was brought in across the UK during the Aids/HIV crisis in the 1980s, but was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales in November 2011.

But a 12-month ban was kept for men who are sexually active.

The same law applies in the US as well.

It meant that many homosexual men couldn't donate blood after 49 people were murdered at a gay club in Orlando and 53 others were wounded.

SNP MSP Rona Mackay will now lead a debate entitled 'Men who have Sex with Men, Blood Donations'.