FDA relax blood donatn guil for gay and bisexual men : NPR

Contents:

• GIVG BLOOD HAS BEEN OFF LIMS FOR MANY GAY MEN. A NEW STUDY ULD HELP CHANGE THAT
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• OPN: WILL NEW BLOOD DONATN L FALLY STOP STIGMATIZG GAY MEN?

GIVG BLOOD HAS BEEN OFF LIMS FOR MANY GAY MEN. A NEW STUDY ULD HELP CHANGE THAT

Now the 38-year-old was a donatn center for the first time years, this time as part of a study that uld lead to the changg of a feral le that has angered and alienated gay men such as him. “It’s tratg not beg able to help when I’m a healthy donor, ” said Goldste, a blogy profsor who has been a monogamo relatnship wh his hband for more than a who have sex wh men have long faced rtrictns on givg blood the Uned Stat, amid ncerns about the disproportnate toll of HIV/AIDS on gay and bisexual men.

Des ago, as AIDS began vastatg gay muni, the Food and Dg Admistratn advised blood centers to prohib any man who had had sex wh another man sce 1977 — even once — om FDA, which regulat blood banks, has eased the l somewhat recent years. But gay and bisexual men are still eligible to donate if they have had sex wh another man the last three feral l have long drawn protts om physicians, policians and activists who nounce them as outdated and stigmatizg. Many were pecially upset after a mass shootg at the gay nightclub Pulse Orlando, Fla., when gay men were turned away om givg blood to help the wound.

Gay men monogamo relatnships are generally barred, but “what about straight men who are havg unprotected sex wh women or engagg other risky behavr? ”Now blood banks are seekg out gay and bisexual men ci cludg Los Angel, Miami and Memphis for the Advance Study, which aims to fd out whether askg would-be donors about risky behavrs — such as havg sex whout a ndom — uld be a safe alternative to screeng out all men who have recently had sex wh men. (Gabriella Angotti-Jon / Los Angel Tim) The Red Cross and two other blood centers — Valant and OneBlood — are now enrollg sexually active gay and bisexual men the ferally fund study, askg them about risky behavrs, then llectg and ttg their blood for HIV.

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

“When I grew up, was very clear that as a boy, beg gay was the worst thg you uld be. The only exampl of gay people were people dyg of AIDS, ” Goldste said. Sce then, “I’ve watched the world change around me” — cludg legal regnn for his marriage and gay upl livg happily on televisn and barred om givg blood, Goldste said, seems “totally out of step wh where we are.

“It’s hard to overstate how strong the impact of that terrible time was on blood banks, ” said Arthur Caplan, director of the divisn of medil ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medice, who opposed the lifetime lifetime ban was first eased six years ago, but only for gay and bisexual men who had not had sex wh another man for at least a year — a le that effectively ntued to bar gay men if they were at all sexually active. ” New HIV fectns have fallen signifintly sce the 1980s, but gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men — dubbed “MSM” feral guidance — are still h harst by the vis natnwi. In Los Angel County, nearly 80% of people livg wh HIV are gay and bisexual men, acrdg to the unty partment of public health.

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.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

”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.

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

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.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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

OPN: WILL NEW BLOOD DONATN L FALLY STOP STIGMATIZG GAY 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. 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. Origally, gay and bisexual men were pletely prohibed om donatg blood.

"We will ntue to work to make sure that we have polici that allow everyone who wants to donate blood to be able to donate blood wh what the science allows to make sure that the blood supply remas safe." 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.