FDA to make easier for gay and bisexual men to donate blood : Shots - Health News : NPR

Contents:

• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• I’M 43 – BUT I’M MA TO FEEL LIKE A DOSR BY YOUNGER GAY MEN
• UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• BLOOD DONOR L TO BE RELAXED FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ENGLAND
• FDA EAS BLOOD DONATN BAN ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN AFTER YEARS OF PROTT
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN N GIVE BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER THE FDA EASED S DONATN POLICI. HERE’S HOW THEY FEEL.
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

S., the Red Cross, along wh One Blood, Valant and partner LGBTQ+ muny health centers, are participatg a pilot study fund by the FDA select ci that uld potentially lead to chang for blood donor eligibily creria for 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.

I’M 43 – BUT I’M MA TO FEEL LIKE A DOSR BY YOUNGER GAY MEN

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.

UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS

Origally, gay and bisexual men were pletely prohibed om donatg blood. " 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.

So monogamo gay men uld start donatg blood aga sometime 2023. Gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood more easily om next summer followg a landmark policy change, the NHS blood service has announced.

He said “The UK is leadg the way ensurg that blood donatn is more clive and now will allow many more gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men to donate blood. A lifetime ban on gay men donatg was rced to a one-year abstence om sex requirement 2011. 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.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

”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.

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.

BLOOD DONOR L TO BE RELAXED FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ENGLAND

”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.

”“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. Is movg to ease rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men and other groups that tradnally face higher risks of HIV. Gay rights groups have long opposed blanket rtrictns on who n give blood, sayg they discrimate agast the LGBTQ muny.

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

“Current and former blood donatn polici ma unfound assumptns about gay and bisexual men and really entangled dividuals’ inty wh their likelihood of havg HIV, ” said Sarah Warbelow of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocy group. And many other untri started blockg blood donatns om gay and bisexual men durg the early 1980’s AIDS epimic, aimg to prevent the spread of HIV through the blood supply.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

The policy would also apply to women who have sex wh gay or bisexual men. The FDA based s latt proposal on a recent study o f 1, 600 gay and bisexual men. Pietrzak donated blood high school but beme eligible after beg sexually active as a gay man.

Dpe this urgent need for donatns, people who have sex wh gay or bisexual men are still facg rtrictns on their abily to give Food and Dg Admistratn bars people who have had sex wh gay or bisexual men om donatg blood for three months followg the most recent sexual ntact bee of fears of HIV the blood agency changed the ferral perd om 12 months to three months November 2020 as blood donatns fell and hospals faced cril shortag durg the first year of the COVID-19 advot, cludg the Human Rights Campaign, say the FDA is movg too slowly on removg the rtrictn, sayg that 's an outright ban on the abily of people, particularly gay and bisexual men, to donate blood.

Rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, who are nsired to be at high risk for HIV or AIDS transmissn, date back to the and bisexual men unrgo dividual risk asssments stead of time-based bans untri around the world, recently cludg Greece and France, acrdg to ternatnal reports. A person is tted durg the first gay men's blood drive, held at the Memorial Blood Center St. The event was held to prott feral l that effectively ban gay men om donatg Bispg/Star Tribune via Getty Imag, FILEValant told ABC News a new statement that rearchers are halfway toward s goal of enrollg 2, 000 participants across eight ci: Washgton D.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN N GIVE BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER THE FDA EASED S DONATN POLICI. HERE’S HOW THEY FEEL.

They enurage gay and bisexual men who are 18 to 39 years old to participate the FDA, a statement to ABC News, said that this study uld generate data that will help the agency terme if a donor's dividual risk asssment and qutnnaire would be jt as effective rcg the risk of HIV the blood supply as the time-based ferrals the FDA already has FDA also said do not have a specific timele for when the studi will be pleted but that is "mted to gatherg the scientific data that n support alternative donor ferral polici that mata a high level of blood safety. Jefey Marks, a 62-year-old wrer livg Ccnati has btersweet feelgs about the Food and Dg Admistratn’s recent cisn to ease rtrictns on queer men donatg a close iend fell ill many years ago, Marks had tried donatg blood at the iend's requt but he was turned away om performg the potentially life savg act bee he was gay, spe havg been a long-term monogamo relatnship wh a man for years. "The s-long FDA ban on queer men donatg, begun 1983, was direct rponse to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which disproportnately affected gay and bisexual men.

Later, 2020, beme a three-month perd, due to an creased need for donatns the early days of, on May 11, the FDA enacted a plan to lift all rtrictns that directly target gay and bisexual men, choosg stead to asss all donors equally, regardls of their genr or sexual inty. He has wanted to donate blood for years but never uld bee he is gay. 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.

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

At first, gay and bisexual men were pletely prohibed om donatg 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. Can gay men give blood?

Gay and bisexual men are not tomatilly prevented om givg blood. That’s why AABB has led efforts to make blood donatn clive of non-bary donors and champned the adoptn of equable, science-based dividual donor asssment (IDA) procs to terme blood donor eligibily that wele LGBTQ+ blood donors, strengthen the blood supply and save Approv Historic Expansn of Donor EligibilyOn May 11, 2023, the Food and Dg Admistratn issued a fal guidance elimatg time-based blood donor ferral perds for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men (MSM) and women who have sex wh MSM. Gay and bisexual men England, Stland, and Wal n now donate blood, plasma and platelets unr certa circumstanc whout havg to wa three months, the Natnal Health Service announced this week.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Gay and bisexual men England, Stland, and Wal n now donate blood, plasma and platelets unr certa circumstanc, the Natnal Health Service announced this week a momento shift policy for most of the U. Begng Monday, gay men sexually active, monogamo relatnships for at least three months n donate for the first time. S, the abily for gay and bisexual men to donate blood is still rtricted.

A ban on gay and bisexual blood donors has been effect sce the early 1980s when fears about HIV/AIDS were wispread. Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St.

New Atralian blood donatn l for gay men don’t go far enough, advot sayNew l that change the barriers facg gay men who want to donate blood Atralia don’t go far enough, advot blood donatn l for gay men have e to effect on Sunday allowg them to give blood if they have been celibate for three measure has dramatilly slashed that wag perd om 12 months – which effectively banned gay men om donatg – but advot say still discrimat agast many who would wish to year the Atralian Red Cross’s Lifeblood service announced the l would be changed om January 31, 2021, after a review of s sexual activy ferral new le, which also apply to transgenr people who have had sex wh a man, appli to oral and anal sex – wh or whout a Theraptic Goods Admistratn approved Lifeblood’s plan to cut the wag perd, and to also allow homosexual men to donate plasma and platelets.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL

”Gay men had prevly been banned om donatg durg the height of the AIDS epimic the 1980s, wh those l lgerg for new change me followg a ph for blood donors durg the COVID-19 panmic, wh MPs Alex Greenwich and Dr Time Read volly supportg the move their rpective stat of NSW and Victoria. “The current ernments of both the Uned Stat and the Uned Kgdom are mted to replacg their gay blood bans wh dividual risk asssment, and ‘s time for Atralia to do the same.

”The study also showed that among gay men who would donate blood, the prevalence of HIV is lower than the general populatn, Mr Croome said.

Back the 1980s, the FDA placed rtrictns on blood donatns by gay men. When the ban was started, 1985, blood banks had limed abili to tt blood products, so they banned donatns om several groups who were found to have higher rat of HIV disease, cludg gay men. Has still mataed a fairly regrsive policy that a lot of people believe puts irratnal or homophobic rtrictns on who uld donate blood.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

In 2015, the ban was changed to one year, meang a gay man would have to absta om sexual activy for a full year orr to donate blood.

And many people have regard even this ls rtrictive ban as a homophobic and outdated procs.

NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY

For many gay and bisexual man, is still effectively a ban.