Gay and Bisexual Men Are Now Allowed To Donate Blood In Most Of The U.K. : NPR

Contents:

• CAN GAY MEN DONATE PLASMA?
• GAY MEN STILL UNABLE TO DONATE BLOOD AND PLASMA SPE NEW FDA GUIL. HERE'S WHY.
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• DPE BLOOD SUPPLI CRILLY LOW, SOME GAY MEN STILL CANNOT DONATE PLASMA
• ANDY COHEN SAYS HE ULDN'T DONATE PLASMA BEE HE IS GAY
• GAY MEN RTRICTED OM DONATG PLASMA TO U.K. RONAVIS TRIALS

CAN GAY MEN DONATE PLASMA?

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.

Thanks to efforts by LGBTQ+ advot, the FDA revised s l 2020, allowg gay men to donate blood and plasma. However, gay men still face stricter eligibily requirements when to plasma donatn. Can Gay Men Donate Plasma?

GAY MEN STILL UNABLE TO DONATE BLOOD AND PLASMA SPE NEW FDA GUIL. HERE'S WHY.

Thanks to new FDA regulatns released 2020, gay men n donate plasma. Gay men mt absta om sex wh another man for three months prr to donatg plasma. Even if a gay man is a long-term, monogamo relatnship wh another man, he still mt absta om sex wh that man for three months prr to donatn.

Navigatg the new regulatns on plasma donatn for gay men n be plited.

Addnal Consiratns for Gay Men Donatg Plasma. Even though gay men are allowed to donate plasma, there are addnal nsiratns. Gay men mt absta om sex wh other men for three months before donatn.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

For gay men who have sex wh men, that means they'll need to absta nsistently to donate monthly. After the Food and Dg Admistratn changed the l for blood donatns om gay and bisexual men earlier this month, ronavis survivor L Estok saw an opportuny to help other patients rever om the years, the FDA has rtricted men who have had sex wh men the precedg year om donatg blood, but loosened s l on April 2 as a way to addrs a sharp drop donors durg the ronavis days, Estok tried to donate blood plasma for a tt program New York Cy that treats severely ill COVID-19 patients wh plasma om patients who have veloped antibodi and revered om the disease. He said he was turned away after revealg he was gay.

"NBC News found that spe the le change hundreds of the natn’s blood centers are still unable to accept blood om gay men, even though there's a sperate need for blood at U. Both the Red Cross and Ameri's Blood Centers, which together reprent 800 banks natnwi, told NBC News they haven't been able to accept and other gay men who have tried to give blood sce April 2 have been unable to do so bee many blood donatn centers have not yet traed staffers or updated their puter systems to acmodate the new le. "I was not expectg the reactn I got, " said Estok on when he told the staff he was gay.

"An NYBC staffer nied that a potential donor would be asked if he were gay, sayg the donor would stead be asked about sexual activy wh another man durg the past 12 months. "Not only is imperative that gay and bisexual men who are now able to donate blood be allowed to do so whout lay, the FDA mt also lift the 3 month ferral s entirety, " said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, a LGBTQ advocy anizatn. 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.

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

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

""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. 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. 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.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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. “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.

DPE BLOOD SUPPLI CRILLY LOW, SOME GAY MEN STILL CANNOT DONATE PLASMA

”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.

For example, if you’re a gay man who wears ndoms durg sex, you lim your risk of ntractg HIV.

Same go for gay men who are married or a long-term monogamo relatnship. 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. ”The policy change uld have a signifint posive effect on the mental health of gay and bisexual men, too.

ANDY COHEN SAYS HE ULDN'T DONATE PLASMA BEE HE IS GAY

It also puts gay and bisexual men at higher risk for acquirg HIV over time. “Social and stctural factors that e gay men to feel othered e them to engage risky sexual behavr, ” Halkis says.

So a ban like this isn’t jt harmful to the Amerin public; “’s credibly harmful to the gay muny, both emotnally and physilly.

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.

GAY MEN RTRICTED OM DONATG PLASMA TO U.K. RONAVIS TRIALS

Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty. 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.

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.