SCHAKOWSKY CALLS ON FDA TO LIFT LIFETIME BAN ON BLOOD/BONE MARROW DONATION BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN | Congrswoman Jan Schakowsky

Contents:

• GAY MEN CAN NOW DONATE LIFE-SAVG BONE MARROW. WILL BLOOD FOLLOW?
• GAY MEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DONATE BONE MARROW
• SCHAKOWSKY CALLS ON FDA TO LIFT LIFETIME BAN ON BLOOD/BONE MARROW DONATION BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

GAY MEN CAN NOW DONATE LIFE-SAVG BONE MARROW. WILL BLOOD FOLLOW?

5 ln people currently enrolled the Natnal Bone Marrow Registry, there’s only a 1 430 chance volunteers will ever be lled upon to donate for Pagels, the challenge is also of her iends are gay or bisexual and historilly unable to donate to blood centers unr Feral Dg Admistratn policy. Acctomed to beg turned away om blood centers due to the fear they might transm HIV, Pagels’ gay and bisexual male iends were worried they wouldn’t be able to help her l of people wa at the OneBlood Donatn Center to donate blood for the jured victims of the Pulse nightclub shootg on June 12, 2016 Orlando, Florida. Gay and bisexual men ntued to be turned away for bone marrow donatn until last year, as Medium wrer John Colucci found out when he attempted to sign up for the registry Febary 2015.

GAY MEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DONATE BONE MARROW

”RELATED: FDA Rensirs Gay Blood BanJason Cianctto, the Vice Print of Policy, Advocy and Communitns at Harlem Uned, believ if allowg MSMs to donate tissue has had no negative impact on the bone marrow registry, the FDA should do the same for blood donatn.

“[The 12-month ferral perd] is a scientifilly unsound policy that particularly stigmatiz gay and bisexual male muni, as well as transgenr women, ” he told NBC Out. “It rri forward the false notn that HIV is a gay disease.

SCHAKOWSKY CALLS ON FDA TO LIFT LIFETIME BAN ON BLOOD/BONE MARROW DONATION BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Gay and bisexual men who are HIV-negative and who practice safe sex, are married and monogamo relatnships, or on PrEP—and if they’re takg regularly, have ltle to no risk of ntractg HIV—are effectively banned for life.

The ernment body has currently said ’s reviewg s impact of allowg gay and bisexual men to donate blood is impossible to unrtimate. Don’t believe the mythsLearn the tth about blood stem cell and marrow Donatn is very Donatn is Sharg personal rmatn and DNA is Donatg tak a long Donatg bone marrow volv openg up or removg Donatg is Matchg blood stem cells is the same as matchg blood Gay men nnot jo the Askg about a donor’s ethnic background is Be The Match discrimat agast people olr than Only mal n donate bone marrow or blood stem to jo the donor registry?

Gay men ("men who have sex wh men") are, as a populatn, more likely to have STDs, cludg HIV.