Rules that effectively banned all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma are being lifted in Australia, BBC reported.

The rules, originally introduced to decrease the risk of blood donations from groups with a higher chance of HIV exposure, will begin being revoked from next month, following similar moves in the UK and US.

However, under the changes, Australia will become the first country in the world to remove all sexual activity-based restrictions on plasma donation, the national blood donation service Lifeblood says.

The new rules have been approved by the country's health products regulator, and are estimated to expand the donation pool by 625,000 people, according to BBC.