FDA likely to end blanket ban on sexually active gay men donatg blood - CBS Mnota

Contents:

• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE
• FDA LOOSENS RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, ENURAG BLOOD DONATNS AMID RONAVIS CRISIS
• IT’S LONG PAST TIME TO END THE FDA’S GAY BLOOD BAN
• FDA PLANS TO LIFT BLANKET RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY MEN
• THE “GAY BLOOD BAN” ISN’T OVER
• WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?
• FDA BAN ON GAY MEN AS BLOOD DONORS OPPOSED BY AMERIN MEDIL ASSOCIATN
• FDA WILL END GAY BLOOD BAN FAVOR OF NEW RISK ASSSMENT MOL
• FDA TO END GAY BLOOD BAN, REPORT SAYS
• FDA LIKELY TO END BLANKET BAN ON SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• HOW FDA'S FORTHG BLOOD DONOR POLICY CHANGE ULD HELP ADDRS STIGMA ABOUT GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN MONOGAMO RELATNSHIPS N DONATE BLOOD UNR NEW FDA POLICY
• CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE
• FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L

Is movg to ease rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men and other groups that tradnally face higher risks of HIV.

The Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) said Thursday had officially elimated rtrictns that had prevly prohibed many blood donatns by gay and bisexual men — a longstandg policy that crics say is discrimatory.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Wh the updated guil, most gay and bisexual men who are a monogamo relatnship wh a man will no longer have to rea om sex orr to donate blood. Print and CEO of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis echoed that approval a statement, sayg "The FDA's cisn to follow science and issue new remendatns for all Amerins, regardls of sexual orientatn, who selflsly donate blood to help save liv, signals the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, " However, Ellis said while the new guidance is a step the right directn, there is still a barrier for LGBTQ+ people who are on PrEP, an FDA-approved dg proven to prevent the transmissn of HIV, who may want to donate blood. The Food and Dg Admistratn has dropped all rtrictns specific to gay and bisexual men donatg blood, a move long anticipated by public health experts and gay rights new guidance, first proposed January and falized Thursday, will not rtrict donatns based on someone's sexual orientatn or genr inty, and stead move towards an "dividual risk-based" approach to rce the risk of accintal HIV fectn through the blood donatn FDA origally banned donatns om gay and bisexual men the midst of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis.

BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE

For example, the HIV epimic has spread far beyond gay and bisexual men, wh women acuntg for roughly 1 5 new HIV diagnos the Uned Stat, acrdg to the most recent CDC data available. Peter Ch-Hong, an fect disease specialist at the Universy of California, San 2015, the FDA relaxed an outright ban on donatns om gay and bisexual men, but the 2015 guidance asked men to absta om sex for at least one year before Thursday's falized guidance, every prospective donor will be asked about their sexual history wh the past three months -- regardls of their sexual orientatn. ""The FDA's cisn to follow science and issue new remendatns for all Amerins, regardls of sexual orientatn, who selflsly donate blood to help save liv, signals the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, " Sarah Kate Ellis, the print and CEO of GLAAD, said a statement, however, took issue wh one part of the updated remendatn, which urg ferral for anyone takg HIV meditns -- cludg people who are HIV negative who are takg meditns lled PrEP to prevent ferral perd uld ntue to erect barriers to LGBTQ blood donors, she said.

" In craftg the new guidance, the FDA has been lookg to the rults of a study of about 1, 600 gay and bisexual men to velop screeng qutns that n intify potential donors who are most likely to be fected wh HIV.

FDA LOOSENS RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, ENURAG BLOOD DONATNS AMID RONAVIS CRISIS

For the first time, the Bin admistratn is mentg on the Food and Dg Admistratn's long-time blood donatn guil, which are impactg the LGBTQ+ muny by preventg gay and bisexual men om beg eligible blood statement, ma by a Whe Hoe official exclively to ABC News, acknowledg the paful origs of the policy and on the heels of the Amerin Red Cross clarg their first-ever natnal blood crisis last week, as suppli at hospals and blood banks bee dangeroly low. Policy holds that sexually active gay or bisexual men mt absta om sex for at least three months before they're allowed to donate blood.

The le appli to gay and bisexual men who are monogamo and those who tt HIV negative and are practicg safe sex.

IT’S LONG PAST TIME TO END THE FDA’S GAY BLOOD BAN

It also clus gay and bisexual COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate nvalcent plasma, rich wh antibodi, for rtrictn on blood donatns me out of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, when limed ttg technology and pacy existed to screen blood for HIV. In 1983, the FDA implemented a lifetime ban on blood donatns om all men who had sex wh men after FDA removed the lifetime ban and enacted a 12-month ferral perd 2015, meang gay or bisexual men had to absta om havg sex wh other men for at least 12 months before donatg blood. The Food and Dg Admistratn on Thursday said would loosen some of the rtrictns that have blocked gay and bisexual men om donatg agency is changg the remend ferral perd for men who have had sex wh another man om 12 months to three months.

Rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, and other groups nsired to be high risk for HIV or AIDS transmissn, date back to the 1980's.

ET every weekday for special verage of the novel ronavis wh the full ABC News team, cludg the latt news, ntext and FDA said the chang would be implemented immediately and and are expected to rema place after the COVID-19 panmic revised guidance also clus people wh recent tattoos and piercgs and women who have had sex wh a gay or bisexual man; the remend ferral perd is now three months vers 12 Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Blogics Evaluatn and Rearch, said a statement: "Based on recently pleted studi and epimlogic data, we've nclud that the current polici regardg the eligibily of certa donors n be modified whout promisg the safety of the blood supply. Contug to enforce the facto prohibn on blood donatn by sexually active gay and bisexual men do not reflect the bt science available. "In the last week Democratic senators and gay rights advocy groups have lled on the feral ernment to loosen the rtrictns, cg the recent blood shortag ed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

FDA PLANS TO LIFT BLANKET RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY MEN

"This is a victory for all of who raised our llective voic agast the discrimatory ban on gay and bisexual men donatg blood.

We will keep fightg until the ferral perd is lifted and gay and bi men, and all LGBTQ people, are treated equal to others.

Incredibly, regulatns put place durg the gay panic that characterized the emergence of HIV/AIDS are still spirually place today — and if the natn’s regulatory bodi are ser about endg this blood crisis, the first people they should be lookg to is queer 1986, followg years of polil prsure om all sis of the Amerin polil spectm, the FDA officially began ferrg cisgenr men who had had sex wh another man (MSM) om blood donatn, wh the ban place if they’d had gay sex om 1977 onward.

THE “GAY BLOOD BAN” ISN’T OVER

In the meantime, heterosexual people who have equent unprotected sex are still seen as safer blood donors on paper than any given gay or bi man who is a monogamo legacy of gay panic that prompted the ial bans the 1980s, when HIV/AIDS was still assumed to be a disease uniquely plagug the gay male muny, is still very much alive the “progrsive” half measur. It’s an sult that misterprets the real reason HIV/AIDS is still so prevalent the LGBTQ+ muny — ’s not that gay sex is more prone to STI transmissn than straight sex, but that gay men were left to die by unrg stutns for s, and that gay Black and Late men livg poverty today don’t have as much accs to meditns like PrEP as their more affluent whe and straight two dozen lawmakers urged the FDA to update “s discrimatory blood donor ferral polici for men who have sex wh men. It would then be implemented by the natn’s blood llectn tablishments through an updated donor history EASES RULE AMID SHORTAGE:FDA relax rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men durg ronavis panmicGay, bisexual men had to wa 3 monthsBlood donatn guil for gay men were first implemented as the HIV/AIDS crisis unfold the 1980s and ially nstuted a lifetime ban for gay men.

WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?

The updated remendatns have been herald the news and by advot alike as an end to the so-lled “gay blood ban. Now, only HIV-negative gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men who do not e PrEP and who are abstent om anal sex for at least three months, or are a sexually monogamo relatnship (or believe themselv to be), are able to donate blood.

The FDA’s new l not only muddle the msage of this val effort, but they mean the policy is not an end to the “gay blood ban” at all, bee so many such men are still exclud—men who, aga, are takg a proactive step to protect their health. It’s unclear exactly how many people take PrEP, but Centers for Disease Control and Preventn data suggts at least 35 percent of gay and bisexual men nsired at “high risk” of HIV do—a cisn health thori endorse. The agency now ns the risk of stg a shadow on PrEP e and ntug to stigmatize gay and bisexual men—a damagg mistake that this long-awaed change policy was meant to rrect.

Blood supply is dangeroly low bee of a sharp drop donatns durg the COVID-19 so, gay and bisexual men, clilly referred to as “men who have sex wh men” or MSM, are still beg told that their blood is too “dangero” to donate. MSM mt be celibate for three months to give blood bee of a Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) policy datg back 40 years to the onset of the AIDS ban do harm by perpetuatg the stigma that HIV/AIDS is a “gay disease, ” said Jason Cianctto, GMHC’s vice print of munitns and policy. “It suggts there is somethg herently wrong and ‘dirty’ about gay and bisexual men that mak them diseased and dangero to others.

FDA BAN ON GAY MEN AS BLOOD DONORS OPPOSED BY AMERIN MEDIL ASSOCIATN

People livg wh HIV also n’t FDA’s blanket ferral clus many HIV-negative people wh a low-to-zero risk of HIV fectn, and accurately suggts all gay and bisexual men are livg wh stance, although Cianctto and his hband are not an open relatnship, the three-month celibacy perd still appli. Dpe enormo advanc scientific knowledge about HIV transmissn and the advent of highly accurate blood screeng tts, the FDA has not changed s policy targetg gay and bisexual HIV and AIDS was rrectly labeled a “gay disease” the early 1980s, the FDA imposed a lifetime blood donatn ban on any man who’d had sex wh another man sce 1977, along wh sex workers, traveno dg ers and people livg wh HIV.

This wdow is signifintly ls than the three months of celibacy required by the ’s roleFor s, GMHC has been fightg the discrimatory ban bee falsely stigmatiz gay and bisexual men as rriers of a “gay disease.

Prompted by the COVID-19 epimic, the FDA December 2020 signed off on a pilot study for three major blood centers, the Amerin Red Cross, Valant and OneBlood, to do jt ADVANCE Study is recg 2, 000 gay and bisexual men eight ci to supply a blood sample and answer behavral qutns about HIV risk factors.

FDA WILL END GAY BLOOD BAN FAVOR OF NEW RISK ASSSMENT MOL

They have not yet been able to rec the requise 2000 gay and bisexual men, perhaps bee the study self, by focg solely on this populatn, perpetuat the stigma of “gay blood. ”“At a time when I was still figurg out my inty, the ernment was affirmg harmful thgs I had been raised to believe about myself: If you are gay, you will die alone om AIDS, ” he hasn’t been advotg all the years to endg the discrimatory ferral perd jt so gay and bisexual men n give blood, Cianctto said. ”Thirty years after Cianctto’s troublg experience, a gay male teen tryg to do their civic duty and give blood will still be asked if they’ve had sex wh a man—and turned away if the answer is y.

”Photo: Blood Mirror is a sculpture and llaborative project by Jordan Eagl, created wh 59 blood donatns om gay, bisexual, and transgenr men.

FDA TO END GAY BLOOD BAN, REPORT SAYS

Food and Dg Admistratn, which prohibs gay men om donatg FDA ban origated 1983 rponse to the AIDS outbreak, when ltle was known about the vis and gay men were more likely to have ntracted the vis. "The AMA remends that the FDA change s policy so that gay men are evaluated on an dividual level rather than beg lumped together a high-risk tegory, addn to craftg a policy that more accurately reprents scientific Valaz, policy analyst for the HIV/AIDS advocy group Gay Men's Health Crisis, said the ban was outdated light of medil advanc that n tect HIV donated blood nearly all blood donatns. In untri such as Canada, the Uned Kgdom and Atralia, gay men are allowed to donate blood if they have abstaed om sex wh a man for a certa perd of time.

In 2015, they lifted the lifetime ban, allowg gay and bisexual men who have not had sex wh the last year to donate. Mov closer to jog the growg list of untri that already wele blood donatns om gay and bi men whout rtrictns. The Food and Dg Admistratn is planng to allow sexually-active gay men monogamo relatnships to donate blood unr guil beg drafted, acrdg to the Wall Street Journal.

Unr current policy, the FDA requir all gay and bisexual men to stop havg sex for three months before donatg blood.

FDA LIKELY TO END BLANKET BAN ON SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD

This rtrictive policy was created 2020 after gay and bisexual men were banned om donatg blood for s due to irratnal and unscientific HIV fears.

FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY

For years, medil experts have said that limg blood donatns om gay and bisexual men is outdated and stigmatizg. The FDA’s possible guile chang e after an agency—fund study of approximately 1, 600 gay and bisexual men examed whether an dividualized-risk asssment would be as effective as time ferrals keepg the blood supply safe, acrdg to the Wall Street Journal article.

“As LGBTQ lears and medil experts have been sayg for years: bans and rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men are rooted stigma, not science, ” Ellis said a statement. He won two awards and received a nomatn for his reportg on the lol LGBTQ muny, cludg a two-part vtigatn that exposed anti-gay bullyg of lol high school stunts and the school districts' failure to implement state mandated protectns for LGBTQ stunts. Rearch backed by the Food and Dg Admistratn "will likely support" endg a blanket ban on blood donatns om sexually active gay men, the agency said Wednday.

"Several untri have already shifted away om broad wag perds for gay men to narrower screeng approach, cludg Canada earlier this year. The FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 panmic. Instead of 1 year, if a male has had sex wh another male, he need only wa 3 months to donate FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 (COVID-19) panmic.

HOW FDA'S FORTHG BLOOD DONOR POLICY CHANGE ULD HELP ADDRS STIGMA ABOUT GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

The revised policy match that the Uned Kgdom, which 2017 implemented a 3-month ferral policy for gay or bisexual men who want to donate blood technician, now a fns entreprenr and owner of, Alistaire Nzek, 34, of Hightstown, New Jersey, poted out, “The whole reason is bee they thk men who sleep wh men are at a higher risk of gettg HIV, " he said. Wh the natn’s blood supply at s lowt pot a , and the Amerin Red Cross clarg s first-ever natnal blood crisis earlier this month, is time for the Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) to do somethg the AMA and others have urged for years: remove s discrimatory ban that prevents many gay and bisexual men om beg blood donors.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN MONOGAMO RELATNSHIPS N DONATE BLOOD UNR NEW FDA POLICY

The existg ban requir gay or bisexual men to absta om sex for a mimum of three months before they n donate blood. Food and Dg Admistratn is nsirg updatg s blood donatn policy, which currently plac some rtrictns on blood donatns om sexually active gay and bisexual a statement, an FDA spokperson said, "While we n't ment on what might be the ntent of the guidance, we n say that the screeng policy we put forward will be genr ntral and science-based.

A ban on gay and bisexual blood donors began durg the HIV/AIDS crisis the 1980s, which primarily affected gay and bisexual men. "If a policy change is implemented, gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships n donate whout abstag om sex. Activists said the rtrictns are based solely on inty rather than dividual risk bee the ban even appli to gay men who are monogamo, tt HIV negative and practice safe sex.

"There is a perceptn that beg a gay or bisexual person is and of self unsafe, " Sarah Warbelow, the legal director at Human Rights Campaign, told ABC News. "Not every gay man is the same, not every bisexual man is the same, not every straight person is the same, " Halkis add. "As LGBTQ lears and medil experts have been sayg for years: bans and rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men are rooted stigma, not science, " said Sarah Kate Ellis, print and CEO of ntued, "Givg one set of l to some people, and another set of l to others, based purely on inty, is blatant discrimatn.

CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE

Edor's note: This story was updated wh rmatn om the FDA to clarify guidance to terme blood-donor regulators on Thursday falized a long-awaed plan that will allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood, potentially expandg the number of eligible donors the U. "This new policy ends a s-old ban rooted discrimatn and bias, " Human Rights Campaign print Kelley Robson said a Thursday prs release appldg the the new guil, gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships will not need to absta om sex prr to givg blood. "This updated policy is based on the bt available scientific evince and is le wh polici place untri like the Uned Kgdom and Canada, " the FDA said a Thursday prs policy also elimat screeng qutns specific to women who have sex wh bisexual men or gay men, the agency rights groups long opposed rtrictns on gay, bisexual menAlmost a ago, the FDA had rtrictns place requirg gay and bisexual men to absta om sex for one year before they uld the time, the Human Rights Campaign said the policy ntued "to stigmatize gay and bisexual men.

FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

"We are mted to workg towards an eventual oute that both mimiz risk to the blood supply and treats gay and bisexual men wh the rpect they serve, " HRC ernment affairs director David Stacy FDA first banned men who have sex wh men om donatg blood 1983 as the HIV/AIDS crisis unfold. Amid a natnal blood shortage, LGBTQ advot and more than two dozen members of Congrs are llg on the Food and Dg Admistratn to further ease donor rtrictns on sexually active gay and bisexual be eligible to donate blood the Uned Stat, men who have sex wh men mt absta om same-sex sexual activy for 90 days. ”“This is a crisis of the FDA’s own makg, ” said Jay Franzone, an LGBTQ advote who remaed abstent for a year to donate blood January 2017, abidg by former and more strgent FDA rtrictns for gay and bisexual men.

Given advanc blood screeng and safety technology, a time-based policy for gay and bisexual men is not scientifilly sound, ntu to effectively exclu an entire group of people, and do not meet the urgent mands of the moment, ” the group Democratic members of the Hoe Oversight Commtee, addn to two openly LGBTQ members of the Hoe — Rep.

If the FDA were to lift donor bans for men who have sex wh men, the annual blood supply would crease by 2 to 4 percent or 345, 400 to 615, 300 pts of blood annually, acrdg to the Williams Instute, a thk tank at UCLA School of FDA self said a statement that while is “nsirg the possibily of pursug alternative strategi that mata blood safety, ” more rmatn is need to revise the three month ferral perd of 2019, an timated 70 percent of new HIV fectns — 24, 500 of 34, 800 — the Uned Stat were among gay and bisexual men, acrdg the Centers for Disease Control and Richard Benjam, the former chief medil officer at the Amerin Red Cross who is now the chief medil officer at the bmedil products pany Ces Corp., argued that based on what the scientific muny knows about HIV ttg, the wag perd is still moot. Several other untri — cludg the Uned Kgdom, Canada and Greece — have lifted or moved to end such rtrictns on gay and bisexual men donatg blood throughout the panmic, wh France announcg on Tuday that will lift s limatns advocy groups lled on the U. The FDA announced Monday that was replacg a lifetime prohibn wh a new policy that will allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood, but only if they have not had sexual ntact wh another man for at least one year.