After FDA Policy Change, More Gay And Bisexual Men Can Now Donate Blood
The American Red Cross now allows men who have sex with men to donate blood without regard for a person's sexual orientation.
On Monday, the American Red Cross said that homosexual and bisexual men can now donate blood regardless of a person's sexual orientation or gender.
The Red Cross is implementing new Food and Drug Administration screening rules that apply to all potential donors based on an individual risk assessment. The Red Cross supplies over 40% of the nation's blood supply.
Men in monogamous sexual relationships with other men can donate under the new FDA standards as long as they meet other screening criteria. Previously, males who had sex with men had to abstain for three months before donating blood.
More Gay And Bisexual Men Can Now Donate Blood After FDA Policy Change
Credit: Canva
The three-month waiting period is now in effect for everyone regardless of sexual orientation or gender, regardless of who has had anal sex with a new partner or multiple persons.
In a statement, the Red Cross stated that it recognizes that the waiting period based on a history of anal intercourse appears to target gay and bisexual individuals unfairly.
The charity organization stated that it is collaborating with the FDA to make blood donation standards more inclusive.
In May, the FDA reversed a nearly 40-year regulation that designated males who have sex with men as a high risk to the blood supply due to HIV transmission concerns.
Gay rights organizations and significant medical societies had long argued that the policy was unneeded, unsupported by current science, and discriminatory.
Credit: Canva
The American Medical Association criticized the FDA regulation for unfairly targeting gay males rather than considering a person's unique risk factors. While gay males were barred from donating even if they had protected sex, heterosexual men and women with unprotected sex with many partners may.
The Policy Was In Place From 1985 To 2015
Following the AIDs crisis in the 1980s, the FDA directed blood donation centres not to accept blood from males who had sex with men. From 1985 to 2015, this policy was in place.
According to the AMA, this policy was created when HIV was poorly understood and stayed in place even as technology improved to screen contributions for blood-borne infections.
Credit: Canva
In 2015, the FDA revised its guidelines to allow males who had sex with men to give blood, but they had to abstain for a year first. Due to blood scarcity during the Covid-19 outbreak, the agency reduced the abstinence period to three months in 2020.
Those on pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, an oral HIV prevention medicine, must wait three months after their last dosage before donating blood. Long-acting PrEP injectable recipients must wait two years before donating. Anyone who has ever tested positive for HIV is ineligible to donate blood.
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