India, May 15 -- The Supreme Court has rightly underscored the element of exclusion and discrimination in transgender persons being barred from donating blood while urging the Centre to consult experts on the issue. Trans-persons are categorised as a "high risk" group for transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), under the 2017 guidelines governing blood donation. Other high-risk groups are men having sex with men, female sex workers and persons with multiple sexual partners. The underlying assumption is that their sexual activity makes them particularly prone to blood-borne infections.

The import of the Supreme Court's oral observation that barring the ent...