Donate Your Blood (NOT)
Unless you’re a gay man, January is National Blood Donor Month. The FDA still has not budged on their ban on blood donations from gay men. “Men who have had sex with other men (MSM), at any time since 1977 (the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the United States) are currently deferred as blood donors.” “This is because MSM are, as a group, at increased risk for HIV, hepatitis B and certain other infections that can be transmitted by transfusion.”
“Men who have had sex with men since 1977 have an HIV prevalence (the total number of cases of a disease that are present in a population at a specific point in time) 60 times higher than the general population, 800 times higher than first time blood donors and 8000 times higher than repeat blood donors (American Red Cross).”
What about men who have had a low number of partners, practice safe sex, or who are currently in monogamous relationships?
It doesn’t matter according to the FDA. See MSNBC for more on the story
Gay? Then You Can't Give Blood
A federal committee recommends maintaining the policy preventing gay men from donating blood in the United States, provoking disappointment and anger from gay activist groups.
The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability voted 9 to 6 against lifting the ban Friday. This committee makes recommendations to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Current FDA rules dictate that any man who has had sex with another man since 1977, even once, cannot donate blood. This rule has been in place since the early 1980s, when there were no tests in existence for identifying HIV-positive blood. Concerns about HIV tainting the blood supply prompted this policy, viewed as a safety measure.
Although the committee recommended keeping this policy, the group also called the rule "suboptimal" and suggested using criteria based on individual behavior instead of broad characteristics, such as men who have had sex with other men.
A report from the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law finds that about 219,000 more pints of blood could be available each year if the FDA lifted the ban. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force cited this figure in its response to Friday's decision.
"The committee's decision today not only leaves a discriminatory practice in place, it also puts lives at risk," said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in a statement.
The American Red Cross also expressed disappointment about the decision, stating that "while the Red Cross is obligated by law to follow the guidelines set forth by the FDA, we also strongly support the use of rational, scientifically-based deferral periods that are applied fairly and consistently among donors who engage in similar risk activities."
Read more about this issue here.
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