Health Canada has approved a request from Canadian Blood Services to end the policy that restricts men who have sex with men from making donations for three-months.

CBS asked the federal health agency to permit it to scrap questions about gender or sexuality; basing screening on higher-risk sexual behaviour.

Canadian Blood Services says starting no later than September 30, potential donors will be asked if they had had new or multiple sexual partners in the last three-months, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

CBS says asking about sexual behaviour rather than sexual orientation will allow it to more reliably assess risk of infections, such as HIV, which be transmitted through infusions.