population," Peter Marks, deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research explained. "Ultimately, the 12-month deferral window is supported by the best available scientific evidence, at this point in time, relevant to the U.S. The FDA considered a risks-based assessment strategy, but eventually settled on the 12-month limit, the agency said. "We strongly encourage the FDA to move toward a deferral based upon individual risk assessment." “Today we begin the final push to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation from the blood donation process altogether,” Ryan James Yezak, founder of the Gay National Gay Blood Drive, said in a statement to the press. A better policy would have taken into account the steps that gay men take to reduce the risk of infection, such as practicing safe sex or taking the anti-HIV pill, Truvada. The Netherlands has lifted its ban on blood donations from gay men - but again, that policy only applies to men who haven't had sexual contact with other men for 12 months.įor many, the FDA's new guidance is still discriminatory because it focuses on sexual orientation rather than an individual's risky behaviors, such as injection drug use and unprotected sex. As of November, France also requires 12 months of abstinence from gay men for blood donation, though men who’ve only had sex with one partner in the past four months can donate blood plasma instead. The 12 month waiting period is a common international standard. The policy revision "c ontinues to protect our blood supply." “We have taken great care to ensure this policy revision is backed by sound science and continues to protect our blood supply.” “The FDA’s responsibility is to maintain a high level of blood product safety for people whose lives depend on it,” the FDA’s Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, said in a statement. The FDA's new guidance on blood donations isn't law, but blood donation centers tend to follow the agency's lead.īREAKING: FDA lifts formal ban on blood donations from gay men. Today's FDA announcement therefore does appear to make it easier for gay men to donate blood - but a year of abstinence will still prevent many men from donating. Until now, gay and bisexual men who’d fooled around with other men at any point after 1977 weren’t allowed to donate blood in the US. The ban on blood donations from gay men was put in place in 1983 during the HIV epidemic. Today, the FDA followed through on that recommendation - but only for men who haven't had sex with another man for a year or more. In 2020, ABC News broke the story that several major blood donation organizations - including the American Red Cross, Vitalant, and OneBlood - announced that they are working together to study and provide data to the FDA to determine if eligibility based on an individual’s risk can replace the current time-based deferral system while maintaining the safety of the blood supply.A year ago, the US Food and Drug Administration recommended lifting the ban that disqualified gay men from giving blood. Italy, Israel, and several other countries have similar requirements. Gay and bisexual men undergo individual risk assessments instead of time-based bans in countries around the world, recently including Greece and France, according to international reports. Restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, who are considered to be at high risk for HIV or AIDS transmission, date back to the 1980s.
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In 2015, the guidance changed from a lifetime ban to a 12-month deferral, and the FDA determines the guidance used by all U.S. "Just like other individuals throughout the country, many people have sex on a regular basis, including with partners and spouses," said Sarah Warbelow, the legal director at the LGBTQ advocacy organization the Human Rights Campaign.Īndrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images, FILE Some advocates, including the Human Rights Campaign, say the FDA is moving too slowly on removing the restriction, saying that it's an outright ban on the ability of people, particularly gay and bisexual men, to donate blood. The agency changed the deferral period from 12 months to three months in November 2020 as blood donations fell and hospitals faced critical shortages during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration bars people who have had sex with gay or bisexual men from donating blood for three months following the most recent sexual contact because of fears of HIV in the blood supply. Despite this urgent need for donations, people who have sex with gay or bisexual men are still facing restrictions on their ability to give blood. is facing a national blood crisis, the "worst blood shortage in over a decade," the American Red Cross warns.