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

Contents:

• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• NEW US BLOOD DONATN L ALLOW MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO GIVE
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• US FDA RELAX BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE
• HERE'S HOW YOU N DONATE BLOOD, IF YOU'RE A GAY MAN
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN UTAH N GIVE BLOOD UNR PANY’S LOOSENED RTRICTNS

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

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. “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.

NEW US BLOOD DONATN L ALLOW MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO GIVE

”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.

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

”The policy change uld have a signifint posive effect on the mental health of gay and bisexual men, too.

It also puts gay and bisexual men at higher risk for acquirg HIV over time.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

“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.

US FDA RELAX BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL 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. Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty.

Gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships n give blood the US whout abstag om sex unr updated feral health guil that foc on donors’ behavr, not their sexual Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) guil falized on Thursday ease s-old rtrictns signed to protect the blood supply om agency announced plans for the change January and said this week the new approach n now be implemented by blood updated guil do away wh a requirement that men who have sex wh men absta om sex for three months prr to givg blood. 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.

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

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. 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.

HERE'S HOW YOU N DONATE BLOOD, IF YOU'RE A GAY MAN

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.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

So monogamo gay men uld start donatg blood aga sometime 2023. 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. Image source, Getty ImagThe US Food and Dg Admistratn has eased s rtrictns barrg gay and bisexual men om givg agency, 2015, dropped a lifetime ban on donatns om men who have sex wh men, but s donatn guil have been cricised for FDA's latt policy evaluat all prospective donors by the same set of creria while screeng for recent, higher-risk sexual update tak s cue om the UK and untri moved, 2021 and 2022 rpectively, to allow donatns om men who have had sex wh other men the past three the le change only appli to those who have had the same sexual partner durg the perd.

"Gay rights advot also weled the move, wh the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) sayg the policy "ends a s-old ban rooted discrimatn and bias" Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD) said "signals the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia", but also had a word of utn. 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.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

The le appli to gay and bisexual men who are monogamo and those who tt HIV negative and are practicg safe sex.

It also clus gay and bisexual COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate nvalcent plasma, rich wh antibodi, for ’s PicksThe 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. In 1983, at the height of the Amerin AIDS epimic, the FDA took a step thought would prevent the vis om spreadg via transfn: banned men who have sex wh men om givg Pulls a CharlottvilleThe exact nature of the FDA's blood ban for gay men has shifted over the past 33 years.

And last year, rponse to urgg om activists and health profsnals, the FDA rolled back the prohibn perd to one year, but required gay male donors to be sexually abstent for a year prr to makg a blood, if you're a sexually active gay man, you are prohibed om givg blood Ameri. Fstratn over the l grew this week, followg Sunday's mass shootg at a gay nightclub Orlando.

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

Many gay men were turned away after a mor began circulatg that the Blood One, a Florida blood bank, had temporarily lifted rtrictns on donatns om sexually-active gay men. ""A married gay man a monogamo relatnship is clearly much more low-risk, " Stacy Bner, senr director of policy at Whman-Walker, a Washgton DC muny health center specializg HIV/AIDS and LGBT re, told me that he didn't see a way for sexually active gay men to get around the FDA le "for this crisis.

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

"If you're a gay man and you have been celibate for a year, of urse, you n donate blood normally—jt look up your neart blood bank and if you don't f the FDA's creria, there are some alternative optns available:Give outsi the U. A study published the Italian medil journal Blood Transfn  2013, rearchers found that after Italy reversed s outright ban on homosexual men donatg blood and swched to a system which dividual donors were subjected to a rigoro qutnnaire regardg their sexual behavrs and histori, there was no crease HIV fectns.

Argenta, Spa, Mexi, Chile, and Rsia are some of the other untri wh siar programs that allow healthy gay men to donate blood. ), would still help to your legislatorsIf you thk the FDA's guil are unjt and discrimatory, you n wre your legislator and mand that they be revised aga to elimate or drastilly shorten the wag perd for gay men who want to donate members of Congrs, like Colorado Democrat Jared Polis, have already started makg noise about the issue on their is currently a Whe Hoe petn to overturn the ban as well, but has a long way to go to reach the number of signatur above which Print Obama would addrs awarensEven when we aren't a natnal tragedy, blood donors are always need. The Natnal Gay Blood Drive is held every year to add blood to the untry's banks and brg further attentn to the FDA's ban.

Gay men who wish to participate are enuraged to round up alli they know to donate their place. Learn more about how you n participate don't advise this optn, but some gay men have taken upon themselv to lie about their sexual history as a way to give blood. "When you have a policy that’s perceived as unreasonable, like this policy is, ters people om plyg, " Stacy outA more ethil optn for gay men might jt be to wa this one out.