Minister Marisol Touraine told Le Monde newspaper that from spring next year, no blood donors can be refused based on their sexual orientation.
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France announced the lifting of a ban of blood donations by gay men, a policy in place since 1983.
France took a draconian line on donations from gay men following the notorious “tainted blood” scandal of 1991 and allegations that France’s blood transfusion centre had knowingly distributed blood products contaminated with HIV to haemophiliacs in 1984 and 1985.
Starting next year, any gay man who has not been sexually active for 12 months will be able to donate.
For donations of only plasma, the liquid component of blood, donors will be considered if they have not had sex with another man for four months, or were in a monogamous relationship.
Yohann Roszéwitch. president of the French gay rights organization SOS Homophobia said in a statement the group “welcomes the end of this systematic exclusion… but strongly regrets the continued discrimination based on sexual orientation”.
“The new developments does not put an end to the stigmatization of gay and bisexual men and therefore homophobia and biphobia remains”.
Other countries that have similar bans in place include Australia, Britain, Sweden and Japan.
On its website, the US Food and Drug Administration says men who have sex with men are “at increased risk for HIV”.
Although several civil servants and the head of the transfusion service were fined and jailed, the issue continues to remain sensitive in France.
Benoit Vallet, the director-general for health, said the risk of infection from donated blood would be no greater once gay men are included in the donor pool.
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The court ruled in April that banning homosexual men from giving blood may be justified where strictly necessary and only if there are no alternatives for preventing the transmission of severe infectious diseases.
