A Donor Deferred: The Lifetime Ban on Blood Donations from Gay Men

via The Huffington Post, by Robert Valadez

"Save a life, give blood," read the sticker on a colleague's lapel. It sounds wonderful -- where do I sign up? Unfortunately, I can't donate blood because I'm gay. Many people are surprised to hear that gay men are prohibited from donating blood in most countries around the world, including the U.S. I've sat at several dinner parties, perched atop my advocacy soapbox, informing straights and gays alike of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) policy that permanently defers any man who has had sex with another man, even once, since 1977, from donating blood.

It wasn't long ago that I was unaware of the policy. Like many college students across the nation, I happily signed up to donate blood at the campus blood drive. In fact, I rallied a group of friends to join me in participating in one of our country's most noble civic duties. One by one, we were called to donate. However, when my name was called, I was escorted to speak with a phlebotomist rather than fitted with an arm tie and stress ball. I was informed that my blood would not be accepted. Not today, not ever again. It had nothing to do with having consumed questionable British meat products or having a deficiency in iron. Rather, I had answered yes to the question -- the one that asked if I had had sex with a man since the 1970s. Given that I was born in the 1980s, the question seemed oddly phrased to me, not to mention unclear as to the definition of sex. Regardless, I checked the box, unaware of its repercussions. Suddenly, I was blacklisted.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Pro/Con: Two views of U.S. prohibiting gay men's blood donation

via The Los Angeles Times, by Jessica Pauline Ogilvie

Last month, the United Kingdom lifted its long-standing ban on accepting blood donations from gay men. Instead, health officials there implemented a new policy that allows men to become blood donors as long as they haven't had sex with another man in the previous year.

With this decision, the U.K. joined France, Italy, Japan and eight other developed countries in allowing gay and bisexual men to contribute to the nation's blood supply. Many of those countries require sexually active gay men to wait a year before giving blood, while others have deferral periods of six months or five years. Some countries have regulations that focus on potential donors' risky sexual behavior rather than their sexual orientation.

In the United States, however, men who have sex with men are still subject to a lifetime ban on donating blood. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration implemented the ban in 1983 after an estimated 10,000 people with the bleeding disorder hemophilia became infected with HIV through transfusions of HIV-tainted blood.

That policy has become increasingly controversial in recent years. Some experts in the field of blood safety — as well as gay rights activists — say that it's discriminatory and that scientific advances in testing for HIV render it obsolete. Many would like to see the policy changed to resemble the U.K.'s one-year deferral policy or have the ban lifted altogether.
On the other side of the debate are those who say that men who have sex with men still face a heightened risk of contracting HIV and that even a small increased threat to the blood supply isn't justifiable.

The issue has divided major U.S. health organizations. Last year, the FDA denied a request to overturn the ban, but the American Red Cross and others support moving to a one-year deferral.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

U.S. to Take Another Look at Gay Blood Donation Ban

Via the National Journal, by Maggie Fox.

A policy that bars gay men from donating blood for life is “suboptimal,” advisers to the Health and Human Services Department said on Tuesday, and needs another look.

HHS asked a committee of experts on blood and tissue donations to reexamine the policy and see if there is a way to let at least some gays donate blood.

“If the data indicate that a change is possible while protecting the blood supply, we will consider a change to the policy,” HHS said in a statement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an HHS agency, has banned blood donation by any man who has had homosexual sex because of the risk of the AIDS virus. Soon after the AIDS pandemic began in the 1980s, people such as hemophiliacs who received frequent blood transfusions or blood products began to become infected with the deadly and incurable virus.

Men who have sex with other men, including gay and bisexual men, have an HIV infection rate 60 times higher than that of the general population, the FDA says. They have an infection rate 800 times higher than first-time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than the rate of repeat blood donors. Tests cannot pick up a new HIV infection in the blood with 100 percent accuracy; because blood is often pooled, many people may be at risk from a single infected donor.

But the Red Cross, always struggling with blood shortages, and other groups such as gay-rights organizations oppose the blanket policy. They say that there are other ways to screen out donors at high risk of HIV infection. Sen. John Kerry, D–Mass., has also been pushing for a change in policy.

“We’ve been working on this a long time in a serious way, and I’m glad Secretary [Kathleen] Sebelius responded with concrete steps to finally remove this policy from the books,” Kerry said in a statement. “HHS is doing their due diligence, and we plan to stay focused on the endgame – a safe blood supply and an end to this discriminatory ban.”

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Gay Blood Ban Controversy: IRMA Chair Weighs In - FOX News Chicago

[The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has decided to continue the controversial policy of banning gay men from donating blood. We talked live with Jim Pickett of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.]