WRITTEN QUESTION No. 896/96 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. AIDS screening for sperm banks
Date: 1996-04-11
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: AIDS, Council of the European Union, European Parliament, action programme, artificial reproduction, competence of the Member States













EUR-Lex - 91996E0896 - EN






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91996E0896

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 896/96 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. AIDS screening for sperm banks  


Official Journal C 280 , 25/09/1996 P. 0101 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-0896/96 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (11 April 1996)Subject: AIDS screening for sperm banksFollowing allegations made by a woman who took legal action because she claims she was infected by the HIV virus which leads to AIDS after artificial insemination by a sperm donor, it has emerged that:- there are no established rules for microbiological laboratories/sperm banks aimed at screening for, and preventing the spread of, the HIV virus and AIDS;- potential recipients of sperm by artificial insemination are obliged to sign a personal statement of consent which reads: 'We also accept and understand that the use of sperm from a donor may entail the transmission of venereal diseases such as gonorrhoea, syphilis, herpes, hepatitis, AIDS, etc. The laboratory which provides our doctor with sperm has, of course, assured us that donors are examined, as is only natural, for all the above diseases. We accept the assurances given by the laboratory...'Will the Commission say:1. Do Community or international AIDS prevention rules exist which these microbiological laboratories/sperm banks and artificial insemination centres should respect?2. Does the Commission intend to take additional measures as part of the 'Europe against AIDS' programme?Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (6 June 1996)Article 129 of the EC Treaty provides that Community action in the field of public health is to be directed towards the prevention of diseases, in particular the major health scourges, by promoting research into their causes and their transmission, as well as health information and education.However, the same Article expressly excludes any harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States. There is therefore no Community provision aimed at preventing the transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in micro-biology laboratories, sperm banks or IVF centres.The programme of Community action on the prevention of AIDS and certain other communicable diseases, adopted on 29 March 1996 by the Parliament and the Council ((OJ L 95 of 16.4.1996. )), provides for support for measures aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmissible diseases. Projects supported must be in line with the programme's objectives and have Community added value.Within the framework of research on biomedical ethics, which is one of the areas covered by the programme of research in the field of biomedicine and health, two European conferences have been held on sperm donation, one in Paris in November 1993 and the other in Brussels in April 1995, to compare the legislation and codes of practice of the individual Member States. Following these meetings, the participants, all professionals working in the field of sperm bank management, agreed to draw up a European code of practice on the donation of gametes, which will of course cover the health aspects. The code is an initiative of the professionals working in the field and not a Community regulation.