Anger over HIV questions cancels blood clinic at Ottawa university

Ottawa's Carleton University cancelled a February blood-donor clinic after the Red Cross failed to hold sensitivity-training sessions for its volunteers. The sessions were requested after students complained that the organization's screening procedures are insensitive and offend gay students. The Red Cross maintains that rigorous screening, including questions about high-risk sexual behaviour, is essential if the blood supply is to be protected. In March a compromise was announced: the Red Cross will begin sensitivity training for its volunteer workers in April and blood-donor clinics will return to Carleton in the fall.