FDA Lifts Des-Old Ban On Blood Donatns By Gay Men : Shots - Health News : NPR

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
• F.D.A. EAS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS FROM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE
• FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATN FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA LOOSENS RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, ENURAG BLOOD DONATNS AMID RONAVIS CRISIS
• WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?
• IT’S LONG PAST TIME TO END THE FDA’S GAY BLOOD BAN
• FDA PAV WAY FOR MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE BLOOD WH NEW RISK-BASED ASSSMENT
• F.D.A. CONSIRG NEW APPROACH TO BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA EAS BLOOD DONATN BAN ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN AFTER YEARS OF PROTT
• FDA PROPOS ALLOWG GAY AND BISEXUAL MONOGAMO MEN TO DONATE BLOOD
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN UTAH N GIVE BLOOD UNR PANY’S LOOSENED RTRICTNS
• 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. 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 DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO 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. " 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. 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. ""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.

F.D.A. EAS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS FROM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Eas Ban on Blood Donatns From Gay and Bisexual Men ADVERTISEMENTThe NewsThe Food and Dg Admistratn announced on Thursday that had formally end the agency’s wi-rangg prohibn on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, a longstandg policy that had been nounced as discrimatory. They fell durg and after the panmic wh the crease school- and office-based blood old l were far more rtrictive screeng out gay or bisexual men. 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. 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.

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

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. The existg ban requir gay or bisexual men to absta om sex for a mimum of three months before they n donate blood. 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.

FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATN FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN

“It’s a discrimatory policy that assum that HIV is a gay disease, and is very much not, ” GLAAD’s Tony Morrison told NPR.

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

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.

WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?

"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. "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. 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.

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

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. 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.

FDA PAV WAY FOR MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE BLOOD WH NEW RISK-BASED ASSSMENT

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.

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.

F.D.A. CONSIRG NEW APPROACH TO BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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

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.

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

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. 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.

Origally, gay and bisexual men were pletely prohibed om donatg blood out of fears they would ntamate the blood supply wh HIV. 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.

FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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 policy.TONY MORRISON: It's a discrimatory policy that assum that HIV is a gay disease, and is very much not. US Food and Dg Admistratn on Thursday paved the way for more gay and bisexual men to donate blood by falizg new risk-based remendatns for blood donatn.

Before the FDA began takg a send look at s guidance several years ago, gay and bisexual men had faced a lifetime ban on blood donatn, a move that many said was discrimatory. Sarah Kate Ellis, Print and CEO of GLAAD, the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, said the new remendatns signal “the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, ” but argued that by excludg people takg PrEP, they didn’t go far enough. 2, 2022The Food and Dg Admistratn is nsirg a more dividualized strategy for screeng gay and bisexual men for blood donatn amid an ongog natnal blood shortage, acrdg to an agency official briefed on the F.

In 2015, the agency allowed gay and bisexual men to donate if they had not had sexual ntact wh other men for the prev perd was rced to three months after severe blood shortag durg the Covid-19 new plan would require potential donors to fill out a qutnnaire about recent sexual activy, among other risk factors.

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

”The new approach is meant to strike a balance between activists who want no rtrictns that sgle out gay and bisexual men and blood banks that want to elimate the risk of a recipient acquirg H. -fund study signed to asss the safety of replacg the current three-month wag perd wh a more dividualized rearchers, who enrolled about 1, 600 gay and bisexual men eight metropolan areas, are hopg to intify a set of screeng qutns that n differentiate men who are more likely to have recently acquired H. 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.

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. The Food and Dg Admistratn on Friday proposed easg blood donatn guil for gay and bisexual current l, the FDA allows donatns om gay and bisexual men if they haven't had sex wh another man for three a draft proposal posted to the agency's webse, the FDA said the new l would allow anyone to donate blood — regardls of genr or sexual orientatn — as long as they haven't engaged certa sexual behavrs the last three months.

FDA PROPOS ALLOWG GAY AND BISEXUAL MONOGAMO MEN TO DONATE BLOOD

That would mean most gay and bisexual men who are a monogamo relatnship wh another man will no longer need to absta om sex to donate blood.

”The agency's rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men stem om the AIDS crisis, which began the early 1980s, when ltle was known about the vis.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN UTAH N GIVE BLOOD UNR PANY’S LOOSENED RTRICTNS

Advocy groups and medil anizatns, cludg the Amerin Red Cross, have urged the FDA to lift rtrictns on blood donatns for gay and bisexual men, sayg the practice is discrimatory and has ntributed to shortag the blood supply the Uned Stat. 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.

FDA LIFTS BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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. ”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. Food and Dg Admistratn announced Friday will ease blood donatn rtrictns on gay and bisexual men, cludg allowg those monogamo relatnships to policy change, which was revealed new draft guidance, after years of urgg by public health experts, blood banks and LGBTQ advocy groups.

In 2020, amid severe blood shortag durg the start of the COVID-19 panmic, the FDA shortened the abstence perd to 90 policy change means gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships n donate whout abstag om sex as long as they tt HIV negative and are practicg safe also means the U. Durg a prs nference Wednday afternoon, ARUP Blood Servic ma the announcement, makg the first donor center the state to accept donatns om the gay muny. 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.