Canada lifts rtrictns on gay men donatg blood | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• BAN ON GAY MEN GIVG BLOOD TO BE LIFTED
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN MONOGAMO RELATNSHIPS N DONATE BLOOD UNR NEW FDA POLICY
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• FDA PLANS TO LIFT BLANKET RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY MEN
• FDA LOOSENS RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, ENURAG BLOOD DONATNS AMID RONAVIS CRISIS
• CANADA TO LIFT BLOOD DONATN BAN ON SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY, BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN BLOOD DONOR BAN TO BE LIFTED
• CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• DOCTORS SAY 'S TIME TO END BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• F.D.A. EASG BAN ON GAYS, TO LET SOME GIVE BLOOD
• SHOULD ATRALIA END RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN DONATG BLOOD?
• CANADA LIFTS RTRICTNS ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD
• SENR CONSERVATIV BACK LIFTG U.K. GAY BLOOD DONATN BAN

BAN ON GAY MEN GIVG BLOOD TO BE LIFTED

Attorneys general om 19 stat and the District of Columbia are urgg the feral ernment to change s policy on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men, movg to guil based on dividual risk factors rather than rtrictg entire groups of early April, the Food and Dg Admistratn put out new guidance for U.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN MONOGAMO RELATNSHIPS N DONATE BLOOD UNR NEW FDA POLICY

"It not, for stance, that "strict applitn of this policy uld still bar a gay man who revers om COVID-19 om donatg nvalcent plasma to his crilly ill hband, even if they are both HIV-negative and even if their relatnship is exclively monogamo.... A lifetime ban on blood donatn by men who have had sex wh another man was put place the UK the 1980s as a rponse to the spread of Aids and followg a review by the Advisory Commtee on the Safety of Blood, Tissu and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex wh the past year will be able to donate if they meet certa other remendatn has been accepted by the health misters England, Stland and Wal, and the ban will be lifted on 7 who have had anal or oral sex wh another man the past 12 months, wh or whout a ndom, will still not be eligible to donate blood, the DoH 's advisory panel, prisg leadg experts and patient groups, rried out s review based on the latt available evince and found uld no longer support the permanent excln of men who have had sex wh nsired the risk of fectn beg transmted blood, attus of potential donors plyg wh the selectn creria and improvements ttg of donated change means the creria for men who have had sex wh men will be le wh other groups who are ferred om givg blood for 12 months due to fectn risks associated wh sexual clu women who have slept wh a man who has had sex wh another man, people who have slept wh prostut and those who have had sex wh anyone who has jected themselv wh dgs. Current guil say people n never give blood if they have had syphilis, HTLV (Human T-lymphotropic vis) or hepatis B or C, and a lifetime ban is also place for people who have ever worked as a prostute or jected themselv wh announcement was weled by the human rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell, but he said fell short of liftg the ban on gay men who always ed said: "Although the new policy is a big improvement on the existg discrimatory l, a 12-month ban is still excsive and unjtified.

"The activist, who lnched the first mpaign agast the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors 1991, add: "Most gay and bisexual men do not have HIV and will never have HIV. Edor's note: This story was updated wh rmatn om the FDA to clarify guidance to terme blood-donor regulators on Thursday falized a long-awaed plan that will allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood, potentially expandg the number of eligible donors the U. "This new policy ends a s-old ban rooted discrimatn and bias, " Human Rights Campaign print Kelley Robson said a Thursday prs release appldg the the new guil, gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships will not need to absta om sex prr to givg blood.

"This updated policy is based on the bt available scientific evince and is le wh polici place untri like the Uned Kgdom and Canada, " the FDA said a Thursday prs policy also elimat screeng qutns specific to women who have sex wh bisexual men or gay men, the agency rights groups long opposed rtrictns on gay, bisexual menAlmost a ago, the FDA had rtrictns place requirg gay and bisexual men to absta om sex for one year before they uld the time, the Human Rights Campaign said the policy ntued "to stigmatize gay and bisexual men.

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

"We are mted to workg towards an eventual oute that both mimiz risk to the blood supply and treats gay and bisexual men wh the rpect they serve, " HRC ernment affairs director David Stacy FDA first banned men who have sex wh men om donatg blood 1983 as the HIV/AIDS crisis unfold.

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 PLANS TO LIFT BLANKET RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY MEN

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. 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.

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

It would then be implemented by the natn’s blood llectn tablishments through an updated donor history EASES RULE AMID SHORTAGE:FDA relax rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men durg ronavis panmicGay, bisexual men had to wa 3 monthsBlood donatn guil for gay men were first implemented as the HIV/AIDS crisis unfold the 1980s and ially nstuted a lifetime ban for gay men. 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.

CANADA TO LIFT BLOOD DONATN BAN ON SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY, BISEXUAL MEN

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. "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. 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.

Image ptn, Men who have sex wh other men will be allowed to donate bloodThe lifetime ban on blood donatns by homosexual and bisexual men will be lifted England, Stland and Wal. However, s chief executive Ben Summerskill said there would still be tighter ntrols on low-risk gay men than on high-risk heterosexuals. "A gay man a monogamo relatnship who has only had oral sex will still tomatilly be unable to give blood but a heterosexual man who has had multiple partners and not worn a ndom will not be qutned about his behavur, or even then, exclud.

GAY MEN BLOOD DONOR BAN TO BE LIFTED

However, he said was impossible to say how many men would actually be able to start donatg blood as "the vast majory of gay men are still [sexually] active" on this storyRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s. Amid a natnal blood shortage, LGBTQ advot and more than two dozen members of Congrs are llg on the Food and Dg Admistratn to further ease donor rtrictns on sexually active gay and bisexual be eligible to donate blood the Uned Stat, men who have sex wh men mt absta om same-sex sexual activy for 90 days.

CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE

”“This is a crisis of the FDA’s own makg, ” said Jay Franzone, an LGBTQ advote who remaed abstent for a year to donate blood January 2017, abidg by former and more strgent FDA rtrictns for gay and bisexual men. Given advanc blood screeng and safety technology, a time-based policy for gay and bisexual men is not scientifilly sound, ntu to effectively exclu an entire group of people, and do not meet the urgent mands of the moment, ” the group Democratic members of the Hoe Oversight Commtee, addn to two openly LGBTQ members of the Hoe — Rep.

If the FDA were to lift donor bans for men who have sex wh men, the annual blood supply would crease by 2 to 4 percent or 345, 400 to 615, 300 pts of blood annually, acrdg to the Williams Instute, a thk tank at UCLA School of FDA self said a statement that while is “nsirg the possibily of pursug alternative strategi that mata blood safety, ” more rmatn is need to revise the three month ferral perd of 2019, an timated 70 percent of new HIV fectns — 24, 500 of 34, 800 — the Uned Stat were among gay and bisexual men, acrdg the Centers for Disease Control and Richard Benjam, the former chief medil officer at the Amerin Red Cross who is now the chief medil officer at the bmedil products pany Ces Corp., argued that based on what the scientific muny knows about HIV ttg, the wag perd is still moot.

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

Several other untri — cludg the Uned Kgdom, Canada and Greece — have lifted or moved to end such rtrictns on gay and bisexual men donatg blood throughout the panmic, wh France announcg on Tuday that will lift s limatns advocy groups lled on the U.

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.

DOCTORS SAY 'S TIME TO END BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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. 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. "It's te that there's a higher prevalence of HIV among gay and bisexual men, but the vast majory of gay and bisexual men don't have HIV, " said Sean Cahill, director of health policy rearch for the Fenway Instute.

"And so this kd of puts out this ia that HIV is a gay disease, and I really do thk ntribut to stigma and discrimatn agast gay men. the New England Journal of Medice last year lookg at the rults of a cisn by the Uned Kgdom to drop a siar ban, and llg for the Uned Stat to do the add the ban n put gay and bisexual men a difficult posn when blood driv are held, forcg them to disclose their sexualy, or seem like they're choosg not to participate an altistic Wu remembers the first time he learned that he was not able to give blood bee of his sexualy, at a blood drive llege. "As a gay man, there is somethg that strik a eply paful nerve by beg told that your blood is tated, that the blood that urs through you is que lerally worthy only of beg disrd, " he asked about the agency's current policy, an FDA spokperson poted to a study is fundg lled.

" 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. When the ban was started, 1985, blood banks had limed abili to tt blood products, so they banned donatns om several groups who were found to have higher rat of HIV disease, cludg gay men.

F.D.A. EASG BAN ON GAYS, TO LET SOME GIVE BLOOD

Has still mataed a fairly regrsive policy that a lot of people believe puts irratnal or homophobic rtrictns on who uld donate blood. In 2015, the ban was changed to one year, meang a gay man would have to absta om sexual activy for a full year orr to donate blood. Many people fd this nature of the ban—the difference l for gay vers straight people—homophobic, and kd of appropriate given where the science and need is.

For example, a gay man a monogamo relatnship would be at low risk of HIV acquisn, but still be banned om blood donatn currently. Ernment gog om 12 months to three months rtrictns for gay men, but the realy is that is still a rtrictn on a lot of people who would be willg participants om donatg blood. There may be gay men who have revered om COVID-19 and terted donatg their plasma, potentially wh valuable antibodi their plasma.

23, 2014WASHINGTON — The Food and Dg Admistratn announced Tuday that would scrap a s-old lifetime prohibn on blood donatn by gay and bisexual men, a major stri toward endg what many had seen as a natnal policy of discrimatn. ”The shift puts the Uned Stat on par wh many European untri, cludg Bra, which adjted s lifetime ban favor of a 12-month rtrictn men’s health advot lled the move long overdue, and said that the overall ban was not based on the latt science and that perpetuated a stigma about gay men as a risk to the health of the natn. Legal experts said the change brought an important natnal health policy le wh other legal and polil rights for gay Amerins, like permtg gay people to marry and to serve openly the ary.

SHOULD ATRALIA END RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN DONATG BLOOD?

Leavg place a 12-month ban sentially blocks any gay or bisexual man who is sexually active om donatg, erasg about half the populatn of potential donors and perpetuatg what rights groups say is tougher treatment for gay and bisexual men.

” AIDS Uned, a Washgton-based lobbyg group, said that was a “step forward, ” but that “ntu to perpetuate discrimatn agast gay and bisexual men. Marks ced data om Atralia, where studi have shown no creased risk to the blood supply after the untry changed the ban om lifetime to a groups appld the shift, potg out that had been phed for years by medil experts, blood banks and gay men’s health anizatns that argued that the policy had long outlived s efulns for safety the blood supply.

CANADA LIFTS RTRICTNS ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD

Ksler said, part bee of chang hospals and ways of llectg groups say that current policy is unfair bee blocks a sexually active gay man om donatg even if he has had only one sexual partner, has protected sex, and has not been exposed to H.

They also argue that the lifetime ban stigmatiz homosexualy, makg seem like beg gay is a risk and of say the policy should be more dividualized, like Italy’s, which potential donors are terviewed to screen for higher-risk donors, like people wh multiple sexual partners or who report sex wh traveno dg ers or Marks said the agency was puttg a surveillance system to place that would help the agency monor the effect of the policy G.

SENR CONSERVATIV BACK LIFTG U.K. GAY BLOOD DONATN BAN

LGBTQI+ groups have lled for Atralia to change s policy on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men the light of mov other untri to relax July the UK removed s three-month abstence perd for gay and bisexual men donatg blood, and moved to an dividual risk asssment for all donors, regardls of genr or sexual partner. A number of other natns, cludg the Netherlands, Israel, Argenta, France and Germany, have abolished their ban on blood donatns for particular groups sce the panmic began, or plan to do so unr Atralian policy, gay men or trans women who have sex wh men are unable to donate blood if their sexual abstence perd is ls than three months.