Why Do FDA Ban ‘Gay’ Blood? - GMHC

Contents:

• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• AMERIN RED CROSS FIGHTS BAN ON GAYS' BLOOD
• WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?
• REMOVE THE AMERIN RED CROSS'S BAN ON DONATNS FROM GAY MENREMOVE THE AMERIN RED CROSS'S BAN ON DONATNS FROM GAY MEN
• ADVANCE STUDY ON DONATN ELIGIBILY REQUIREMENTS FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

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. A person is tted durg the first gay men's blood drive, held at the Memorial Blood Center St.

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

The event was held to prott feral l that effectively ban gay men om donatg Bispg/Star Tribune via Getty Imag, FILEValant told ABC News a new statement that rearchers are halfway toward s goal of enrollg 2, 000 participants across eight ci: Washgton D. They enurage gay and bisexual men who are 18 to 39 years old to participate the FDA, a statement to ABC News, said that this study uld generate data that will help the agency terme if a donor's dividual risk asssment and qutnnaire would be jt as effective rcg the risk of HIV the blood supply as the time-based ferrals the FDA already has FDA also said do not have a specific timele for when the studi will be pleted but that is "mted to gatherg the scientific data that n support alternative donor ferral polici that mata a high level of blood safety. 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. 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.

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

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 roots of limatns agast gay and bisexual blood donors date back to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

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.

AMERIN RED CROSS FIGHTS BAN ON GAYS' BLOOD

”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. 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.

WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?

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. For two s, the Food and Dg Admistratn has prohibed gay and bisexual men om givg blood as a preutn agast AIDS. Joel Gsberg, head of the Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn, says the ban unfairly discrimat.

But one group is officially not weled to participate - gay men. Wh me to talk about this is Joel Gsberg, head of the Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn.

REMOVE THE AMERIN RED CROSS'S BAN ON DONATNS FROM GAY MENREMOVE THE AMERIN RED CROSS'S BAN ON DONATNS FROM GAY MEN

JOEL GINSBERG (Director, Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn): Hi. Given jt those two issu, why would we even nsir allowg gay men to beg donatg aga?

ADVANCE STUDY ON DONATN ELIGIBILY REQUIREMENTS FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Our ncern is that there isn't a scientific jtifitn for excludg low-risk gay men while acceptg high-risk heterosexuals. So to give you an example, take a gay male uple that's been together for 20 years, and they have a monogamo relatnship and they have tted negative for HIV.

I'm ncerned that they haven't perhaps ma as much effort as they should have to make sure that the policy is science based, bee the subject here is gay men. GINSBERG: They also would not have been as quick to bar other groups, as they have been to bar gay men. Bee somehow movg down that path terms of human st would be unacceptable, and I wonr why we don't have the same standards for gay men.

Our posn is simply that the same creria should be ed for gay men as are ed for other groups, and our sense is that that's not the se now. MARTIN: Would allowg gay men to donate blood really improve the supply and availabily?