The FDA nsirs easg rtrictns on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men : NPR

Contents:

• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATN FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN
• BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE
• FDA LIFTS DISCRIMATORY BLOOD DONATN BAN FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• FDA PLANS TO LIFT BLANKET RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY MEN
• THE FDA NSIRS EASG RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?
• FDA LIFTS LIFETIME BAN ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD
• CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE
• CANADA TO LIFT BLOOD DONATN BAN ON SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY, BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN
• FDA EAS BLOOD DONATN BAN ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN AFTER YEARS OF PROTT
• THE BAN ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD MIGHT BE GOG AWAY
• AS PROMISED, FDA TO LIFT BAN ON GAY BLOOD DONATN
• RSIA GAY BLOOD DONATN BAN, FREE CONVERSN THERAPY PROPOSED BY MOSW MAYORAL CANDIDATE

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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. 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.

FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATN FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN

""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.

The Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) has lifted a s-long ban on sexually active gay and bisexual men om donatg blood, overlg a rtrictn datg back to the 1980s AIDS 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. 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 rtrictns, which date back to the advent of the AIDS epimic, meant that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men were eligible as donors or subject to discrimatory ferral perds based solely on their sexual orientatn and genr new proposed guil would elimate l targetg potential donors based on sexual orientatn and genr. GLAAD noted at the time that anti-LGBTQ fear—not science—was keepg the ban place, and Ellis spoke out about the stigma associated wh a ban on gay and bisexual men.

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

The FDA not that the e of PrEP and PEP may lay tectn of HIV by licensed screeng tts for blood donatns, potentially rultg false negative FDA is proposg allowg blood donatns om monogamo gay and bi men, relaxg policy rtrictns agast them that were wily cricized as discrimatory and that date back to the 1980s AIDS epimic. If monogamo and no new partners the last three months, all prospective donors, cludg gay and bi men, would be nsired eligible to donate wh no ferral FDA is proposg allowg blood donatns om monogamo gay and bi men, relaxg policy rtrictns wily cricized as discrimatory that date back to the 1980s AIDS epimic.

GLAAD is among anizatns and lears who have nsistently advoted for an end to rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, and other LGBTQ people.

Food & Dg Admistratn’s (FDA) revised remendatns on gay and bisexual men, and other LGBTQ people, om donatg blood by rcg the ferral perd om 12 months to 3 months. 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. 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.

FDA LIFTS DISCRIMATORY BLOOD DONATN BAN FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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. 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. The FDA nsirs easg rtrictns on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men The Food and Dg Admistratn is likely to propose easg rtrictns on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men.

In 2015, the FDA lifted the total ban on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men and stead said they uld donate as long as they hadn't had sexual ntact wh other men for at least a year. This qutnnaire would be based on the rults of a study of about 1, 600 gay and bisexual men that was signed to velop a set of screeng qutns that would intify potential donors who are most likely to be fected wh HIV. Here's Tony Morrison om the group GLAAD, which has long cricized the current MORRISON: It's a discrimatory policy that assum that HIV is a gay disease, and is very much not.

But there is one easily implementable solutn to the natnal blood-supply shortage that’s been available for years and uld be a lifele: allowg gay and bisexual men to donate eely. S., gay and bisexual men (often referred to as MSM, or “men who have sex wh men”) are not allowed to give blood if they’ve had sex wh another man the past three months.

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

“It is my opn that we ntue to have a real problem wh laws and regulatns based on fear rather than science, ” she ntuatn of a MSM-specific barrier to givg is not only limg the blood supply, ’s unnecsary and “rooted homophobia, ” explas Perry N. ”In 2015, theFDA loosened s rtrictn, permtg gay and bisexual men to donate blood as long as they hadn’t had sex wh another man the past year. Conducted tanm wh the natn’s largt blood centers—the Amerin Red Cross, Valant, and OneBlood—the rearch effort will survey 2, 000 gay and bisexual men across the untry between the ag of 18 and 30 who have had sex wh at least one man the past three months.

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

The first step is to sign GLAAD’s petn at You then n—and should—te those around you, “sce many people, cludg gay and bi men, don’t know that this ban exists, ” adds Lasky.

(This May 11 story rrects date and time reference for France fal par)LONDON (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - Countri around the world are reviewg rtrictns on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men imposed durg the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, wh some removg blanket bans and others rcg wag perds after gay ’s Supreme Court led on Friday that a 12-month ferral perd for gay and bi men to give blood was unnstutnal, a policy LGBT+ mpaigners had long argued was discrimatory given morn blood-screeng now, Brazil’s ernment will have to treat gay and bisexual men the same as heterosexual men when donatg blood.

It uld wre a new law that restat the ban, but s posn is not yet blood suppli have e unr prsure due to the ronavis panmic, lls have grown for ernments to replace abstence perds for men who have sex wh men to donate blood wh dividual risk-based month, the Uned Stat and Northern Ireland cut their abstence perds, while Atralia said plans to do are the l erng blood donatn by gay and bi men around the world:- Countri that impose lifelong bans on gay and bisexual men donatg blood clu Croatia, Iceland, Malaysia, Slovenia, Sgapore, Tridad and Tobago and Ukrae- At least 17 untri now have no rtrictns, cludg Argenta, Italy, Rsia, South Ai, Spa and, as of January this year, Hungary- In April 2020, the Uned Stat cut s celibacy perd om 12 months to three months amid a blood shortage- Last month, Northern Ireland also rced s ferral perd om one year to three months, brgg to le wh regulatns the rt of the Uned Kgdom- Some untri differentiate between blood products and blood general, but Bra men who have had sex wh another man the last three months and revered om Covid-19 nnot donate their plasma to a ronavis treatment trial- Most untri do not mentn whether takg Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a HIV-preventn dg, affects gay and bi men’s abily to donate blood. Bra says s three-month abstence perd appli regardls of whether someone tak PrEP or not- When Atralia announced s tentn to cut the abstence perd om 12 months to three April, said people takg PrEP would still have a 12-month abstence perd- Atria lifted a blanket ban on men who have sex wh men givg blood, replacg wh a 12-month abstence perd for gay and bi men December 2019- In March, Denmark lifted s lifelong ban, implementg a prevly announced wag perd of four months- France has had a wag perd of 12 months sce 2016, when lifted a ban on gay and bisexual men givg blood that had been place sce 1983Sourc: Thomson Rters Foundatn rearch, RtersReportg by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage and Elsa Ohlen; Addnal reportg by Fab Teixeira; Edg by Helen Popper and Hugo Greenhalgh. The lifetime ban of blood donatns om gay and bisexual men was implemented by the FDA 1983 at the start of the AIDS crisis, when ltle was known about the spread of the disease.

THE FDA NSIRS EASG RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

The Human Rights Campaign lled the change a “step the right directn, ” but said the new policy, “still falls short of a fully acceptable solutn bee ntu to stigmatize gay and bisexual men.

In addn to changg the lifetime ban for homosexual and bisexual men donatg blood, the FDA also ma remendatns regardg “donor tnal materials, donor history qutnnair and acpanyg materials, as well as donor requalifitn and product management procr, ” the release said.

LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS

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.

WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?

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.

FDA LIFTS LIFETIME BAN ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD

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. In 1983, the FDA banned gay and bisexual men om ever beg eligible to donate blood to protect people receivg blood transfns om the possibily of gettg fected wh the human immunoficiency vis, which AIDS.

Gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships will no longer be forced to absta om sex to donate blood unr feral guil announced Friday, endg a vtige of the earlit days of the AIDS proposed relaxatn of rtrictns by the Food and Dg Admistratn follows years of prsure by blood banks, the Amerin Medil Associatn and LGBT rights anizatns to abandon l some experts say are outdated, homophobic and effective at keepg the natn’s blood supply new approach elimat l that target men who have sex wh men and stead foc on sexual behavrs by people, regardls of genr, that pose a higher risk of ntractg and transmtg HIV. ”Other untri cludg Canada and the Uned Kgdom have ma siar chang recent s, gay men said they were ma to feel like pariahs as they were barred om performg a wily ld act of muny service, siled om jog iends and fay givg blood after natnal disasters. ”Technologil advancements blood screeng and a new FDA-fund study backg the proposed approach renred sweepg prohibns on sexually active gay and bisexual men moot, some experts said.

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

Newly eligible donors probably would not be able to give blood until the end of the year or early next year while the FDA faliz chang and blood banks implement activists say gay men would still be treated unfairly unr the proposed guil, which would allow them to give blood if they had not had a new anal sexual partner the prr three is no exceptn for people takg daily pills that drastilly rce the risk of ntractg HIV, a landmark advancement that revolutnized preventn whout relyg on ndoms or abstence alone, bee the meditn n terfere wh the abily of screeng tts to tect HIV.

“Beg monogamo wh someone who is not livg wh HIV is not the only way to prevent transmissn, ” said Jason Cianctto, vice print for munitns and public policy at Gay Men’s Health Crisis, a group that has advoted to end the blood donatn the AIDS epimic emerged the 1980s, thoands of people who received blood transfns beme fected before scientists realized that the HIV vis that ed the disease uld be transmted by FDA placed rtrictns on blood donatns by gay men, who had higher rat of HIV fectn bee the vis spreads more easily smaller sexual works and more efficiently durg anal sex than vagal sex.

CANADA TO LIFT BLOOD DONATN BAN ON SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY, BISEXUAL MEN

”The FDA fund a study nducted between December 2020 and September 2022 by three of the natn’s largt nonprof blood centers — Valant, OneBlood and the Amerin Red Cross — to exame whether there are qutns provirs uld ask sexually active gay and bisexual men to terme a person’s risk donatg Cter, director of the Valant Rearch Instute and the study’s prcipal vtigator, cled to share the rults whout FDA approval but characterized them as promisg. “We are a very challengg time for the blood supply, ” Fry ’s unclear how much the new l would expand the blood supply, which would require a ncerted outreach mpaign to rm gay and bisexual men acctomed to be beg banned that they might now be eligible to crics say a three-month wag perd, mirrorg other Wtern untri, is still overly strgent bee of advancements ttg that allow for HIV to be tected Hoylman-Sigal, an openly gay Democratic senator the New York legislature, said any ferral “ntu to foster stigma around men who have sex wh men.

FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

”“They need to pletely get rid of any semblance of rtrictns on gay men donatg blood, ” Hoylman-Sigal reason for the three-month ferral perd, acrdg to Khanlwal Canada, is that ttg for blood-borne vis, which clu hepatis B and C as well as HIV, “is not perfect. 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.

A policy change years the makg, on Thursday Health Canada approved Canadian Blood Servic’ submissn to elimate the three-month donor ferral perd for gay and bisexual men as well as some other folks the LGBTQ2S+ muny. This means Canadian Blood Servic prohibs gay and bisexual men who have sex wh men, as well as certa trans people who have sex wh men, om donatg blood unls they have been abstent for three months. For years LGBTQ2S+ advot and those who are prohibed om donatg have voice their tratn, sayg the policy is discrimatory, homophobic, and not based science.

GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN

Out gay Conservative MP Eric Dunn, who gaed notoriety 2020 for challengg the ernment the Hoe over the policy and sharg his personal experience of beg unable to donate, qutned why ’ll still be months before the policy change is implemented. Food and Dg Admistratn on Tuday posted a requt for public ment on what alternative blood donor ferral polici uld look like, signalg the possibily that longstandg rtrictns on gay blood donatns may be lifted.

The FDA’s origal ban on gay men donatg blood was implemented as a means to prevent the spread of HIV through blood donatns, back when there was not a simple way to tect HIV blood. “The tragedy at Pulse nightclub Orlando highlighted the discrimatn gay and bisexual men face when attemptg to donate blood to those need.

The Food and Dg Admistratn has formally proposed lettg gay and bisexual men donate blood, so long as they’ve abstaed om sex for a remendatn chang the current guidance, which is that any man who have ever had sex wh another man his entire life should never be able to donate blood. "While the new policy is a step the right directn toward an ial policy that reflects the bt scientific rearch, still falls far short of a fully acceptable solutn bee ntu to stigmatize gay and bisexual men, ” said the group’s top policy official, David Stacy.

FDA EAS BLOOD DONATN BAN ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN AFTER YEARS OF PROTT

”The guidance also asks people not to donate blood if they’ve recently received a transfn, and asks women who have had recent sex wh a bisexual or gay man to wa a year before FoxMaggie Fox is a senr wrer for NBC News and TODAY, verg health policy, science, medil treatments and disease. It's more bad news for Rsia's embattled gay muny now that a State Duma puty has reportedly lled for a natnal ban on blood donatns om both gay and bisexual men. "We will suggt amendments to the law on donors that retroduce homosexualy to the list of ntraditns for blood donatns Health Mistry stctns, ” Degtyarev is quoted by RT as sayg.

THE BAN ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD MIGHT BE GOG AWAY

In addn, Degtyarev add that Rsia's lower hoe was also workg on an iative to offer gays voluntary nsultatns wh psychologists and psychotherapists an effort to help them to “return to normal life and bee heterosexuals, as are 95 to 99 percent of our cizens, ” the report add. Degtyarev's views ntrast sharply wh that of fellow Mosw mayoral ndidate Alexei Navalny, who last week vowed to allow lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) relevant ralli if elected, acrdg to Rters.

" Rsia's stance on the LGBT muny has e unr ternatnal scty recent weeks the wake of the untry's so-lled "gay propaganda" legislatn, which impos hefty f for providg gay-relevant rmatn to mors or holdg pri ralli, acrdg to reports.

AS PROMISED, FDA TO LIFT BAN ON GAY BLOOD DONATN

RSIA GAY BLOOD DONATN BAN, FREE CONVERSN THERAPY PROPOSED BY MOSW MAYORAL CANDIDATE