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
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• NEW US BLOOD DONATN L ALLOW MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO GIVE
• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY
• HERE'S HOW YOU N DONATE BLOOD, IF YOU'RE A GAY MAN
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• BANNED FOR LIFE: WHY GAY MEN STILL N'T DONATE BLOOD
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN

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. ”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.

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

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.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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

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

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. Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty. The FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 panmic.

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

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. How do they know if a gay man is gay? Harcup, 43, a gay man who liv Florida.

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

And ’s also outrageo to assume that gay men engage more risky sexual behavr than straight men. 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. Jt bee I’m a gay man sleepg wh another men do not make my blood any ls clean.

You’re jt as likely to get HIV whether you’re straight or gay.

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 MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

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 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. 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 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.

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.

BANNED FOR LIFE: WHY GAY MEN STILL N'T DONATE BLOOD

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.

"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.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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.

GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN

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. "Give somethg other than bloodBner says that all gay men who legally n donate blood should.

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.