A blood donation rule change means another 18,000 people can donate from today.

For the last 22 years, people who spent six months or more in the UK between 1980 and 1996 have been ineligible to donate blood.

It was a precautionary measure in response to the UK outbreak of mad cow disease and concerns about the risk of acquiring human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

But from today, the rule has been dropped. It means an estimated 18,000 extra people are now eligible to donate.

Executive director of donor services at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, Cath Stone, says our blood service is one of the first to make the change.

“It’s all based on the latest scientific evidence and research, and has gone to the TGA and they have agreed now is the time we can lift that deferral in Australia.”