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

Contents:

• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?
• NEW BLOOD DONATN RUL TO LOOSEN RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• THE FDA NSIRS EASG RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS
• DOCTORS SAY 'S TIME TO END BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL
• GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN

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

S., the Red Cross, along wh One Blood, Valant and partner LGBTQ+ muny health centers, are participatg a pilot study fund by the FDA select ci that uld potentially lead to chang for blood donor eligibily creria for gay and bisexual men. 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. 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. 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.

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

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. 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.

“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.

BLOOD DONATN BY 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. " 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

Current Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) policy allows for gay and bisexual men to donate blood 3 months after their most recent sexual ntact wh another man if they meet all other eligibily creria. 27, 2023, FDA issued a draft guidance that propos to elimate the tomatic 3-month ferral of gay and bisexual men based on the agency analysis of the current data on HIV transmissn.

The Food and Dg Admistratn has dropped all rtrictns specific to gay and bisexual men donatg blood, a move long anticipated by public health experts and gay rights new guidance, first proposed January and falized Thursday, will not rtrict donatns based on someone's sexual orientatn or genr inty, and stead move towards an "dividual risk-based" approach to rce the risk of accintal HIV fectn through the blood donatn FDA origally banned donatns om gay and bisexual men the midst of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis. For example, the HIV epimic has spread far beyond gay and bisexual men, wh women acuntg for roughly 1 5 new HIV diagnos the Uned Stat, acrdg to the most recent CDC data available. Peter Ch-Hong, an fect disease specialist at the Universy of California, San 2015, the FDA relaxed an outright ban on donatns om gay and bisexual men, but the 2015 guidance asked men to absta om sex for at least one year before Thursday's falized guidance, every prospective donor will be asked about their sexual history wh the past three months -- regardls of their sexual orientatn.

""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, " Sarah Kate Ellis, the print and CEO of GLAAD, said a statement, however, took issue wh one part of the updated remendatn, which urg ferral for anyone takg HIV meditns -- cludg people who are HIV negative who are takg meditns lled PrEP to prevent ferral perd uld ntue to erect barriers to LGBTQ blood donors, she said. The FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 panmic.

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

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.

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. The Orlando massacre has aga raised the qutn of whether is ethil or sensible to rtrict gay and bisexual men om donatg blood.

In Atralia, a lifetime ban on blood donatn by any man who had ever had homosexual sex was troduced 1983. At this time, Atralian stat and terrori also put place legislatn that ma a crimal offence not to disclose to the blood bank a history of male homosexual ntact or jectg dg e.

FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

It allowed ernments to monstrate they were takg actn rponse to wispread public fears about HIV, much of which were directed toward gay men. By 2000, Atralian blood donatn regulatns had been changed to allow for donatns by men who had not engaged homosexual sex for 12 months, generally referred to as a ferral perd. In 2012, a study missned by the Atralian Red Cross nclud that, as the vast majory of blood donors are pliant wh safety regulatns, there would be mimal risks associated wh rcg the ferral perd for homosexually active men to six months.

WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?

Gay men are more likely to ntract HIV, but the most nservative wdow between fectn and tectn is only 12 weeks. But the unter argument is that placg rtrictns on male-to-male sex reflects discrimatory and misguid attus toward gay and bisexual men – posng them as herently irrponsible and risky. A gay man who has been havg safe sex, cludg wh a monogamo relatnship, is not necsarily at higher risk of acquirg HIV than a woman who has had multiple sexual partners and possibly unsafe sex.

It is this lack of tst that reveals the subtle (and not so subtle) ways which homophobia and discrimatn plays out.

NEW BLOOD DONATN RUL TO LOOSEN RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

The TGA’s unwillgns to rce the ferral perd may be due to ncerns that rcg rtrictns on blood donatn by gay and bisexual men uld unrme public nfince the safety of the blood supply. It is on the grounds that gay advocy anisatns have been cricised for llg out blood donatn bans as discrimatory.

But is discrimatory to the extent that rtrictg men who have sex wh men om donatg blood reflects and rerc the perspective that gay and bisexual men are unreliable and require strict laws to regulate their actns – laws that are not applied to other groups. The tragic irony, the the wake of the Orlando massacre, is that many people directly affected by this homophobic hate crime are prevented om offerg help due to regulatns that are place, large part, due to homophobia.

THE FDA NSIRS EASG RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Dpe this urgent need for donatns, people who have sex wh gay or bisexual men are still facg rtrictns on their abily to give blood.The 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 supply.The 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 panmic.Some 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."Jt like other dividuals throughout the untry, many people have sex on a regular basis, cludg wh partners and spo," said Sarah Warbelow, the legal director at the LGBTQ advocy anizatn the Human Rights Campaign."It really amounts to beg an effective ban, based on a person's inty rather than an actual factor on the science," she add.A man donat blood an INOVA Hospals Bloodmobile Washgton, D.C., July 21, 2020.

Blood llectn anizatns.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 1980s.Gay 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. Italy, Israel, and several other untri have siar requirements.In 2020, ABC News broke the story that several major blood donatn anizatns -- cludg the Amerin Red Cross, Valant, and OneBlood -- announced that they are workg together to study and provi data to the FDA to terme if eligibily based on an dividual’s risk n replace the current time-based ferral system while matag the safety of the blood supply.A person is tted durg the first gay men's blood drive, held at the Memorial Blood Center St.

The event was held to prott feral l that effectively ban gay men om donatg blood.Bce 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.C., San Francis, Orlando, New Orleans/Baton Rouge, Miami, Memphis, Los Angel, and Atlanta. They enurage gay and bisexual men who are 18 to 39 years old to participate the rearch.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 place.The 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."A man squeez a ball as he donat blood an INOVA Hospals Bloodmobile Washgton, D.C., July 21, 2020. Durg a prs nference Wednday afternoon, ARUP Blood Servic ma the announcement, makg the first donor center the state to accept donatns om the gay muny.

UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS

The Food and Dg Admistratn on Friday proposed easg blood donatn guil for gay and bisexual current l, the FDA allows donatns om gay and bisexual men if they haven't had sex wh another man for three a draft proposal posted to the agency's webse, the FDA said the new l would allow anyone to donate blood — regardls of genr or sexual orientatn — as long as they haven't engaged certa sexual behavrs the last three months.

That would mean most gay and bisexual men who are a monogamo relatnship wh another man will no longer need to absta om sex to donate blood. ”The agency's rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men stem om the AIDS crisis, which began the early 1980s, when ltle was known about the vis. Advocy groups and medil anizatns, cludg the Amerin Red Cross, have urged the FDA to lift rtrictns on blood donatns for gay and bisexual men, sayg the practice is discrimatory and has ntributed to shortag the blood supply the Uned Stat.

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

(This May 11 story rrects date and time reference for France fal par)LONDON (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - Countri around the world are reviewg rtrictns on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men imposed durg the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, wh some removg blanket bans and others rcg wag perds after gay ’s Supreme Court led on Friday that a 12-month ferral perd for gay and bi men to give blood was unnstutnal, a policy LGBT+ mpaigners had long argued was discrimatory given morn blood-screeng now, Brazil’s ernment will have to treat gay and bisexual men the same as heterosexual men when donatg blood. It uld wre a new law that restat the ban, but s posn is not yet blood suppli have e unr prsure due to the ronavis panmic, lls have grown for ernments to replace abstence perds for men who have sex wh men to donate blood wh dividual risk-based month, the Uned Stat and Northern Ireland cut their abstence perds, while Atralia said plans to do are the l erng blood donatn by gay and bi men around the world:- Countri that impose lifelong bans on gay and bisexual men donatg blood clu Croatia, Iceland, Malaysia, Slovenia, Sgapore, Tridad and Tobago and Ukrae- At least 17 untri now have no rtrictns, cludg Argenta, Italy, Rsia, South Ai, Spa and, as of January this year, Hungary- In April 2020, the Uned Stat cut s celibacy perd om 12 months to three months amid a blood shortage- Last month, Northern Ireland also rced s ferral perd om one year to three months, brgg to le wh regulatns the rt of the Uned Kgdom- Some untri differentiate between blood products and blood general, but Bra men who have had sex wh another man the last three months and revered om Covid-19 nnot donate their plasma to a ronavis treatment trial- Most untri do not mentn whether takg Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a HIV-preventn dg, affects gay and bi men’s abily to donate blood. Bra says s three-month abstence perd appli regardls of whether someone tak PrEP or not- When Atralia announced s tentn to cut the abstence perd om 12 months to three April, said people takg PrEP would still have a 12-month abstence perd- Atria lifted a blanket ban on men who have sex wh men givg blood, replacg wh a 12-month abstence perd for gay and bi men December 2019- In March, Denmark lifted s lifelong ban, implementg a prevly announced wag perd of four months- France has had a wag perd of 12 months sce 2016, when lifted a ban on gay and bisexual men givg blood that had been place sce 1983Sourc: Thomson Rters Foundatn rearch, RtersReportg by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage and Elsa Ohlen; Addnal reportg by Fab Teixeira; Edg by Helen Popper and Hugo Greenhalgh.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL

Said the new guil would be more clive and were based on a review of data om other Fremson/The New York TimThe Food and Dg Admistratn plans to revise a longstandg policy that exclud most gay and bisexual men om blood donatn, stead adoptg an approach that will screen donors pendg on their recent sexual activy, agency officials said on move follows years of cricism om L.

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

In 2015, the agency allowed gay and bisexual men to donate if they had not had sexual ntact wh other men for the prev perd was rced to three months after severe blood shortag durg the Covid-19 F. Said the agency’s proposal was an important step forward that would enable him — a gay married man — and many others to perform an important public service. Said the new approach would be genr-clive — the screeng would also apply to women who have sex wh gay and bisexual men — and would foc on dividual risk, not blanket prohibns on groups.

A., shapg the proposal, reviewed data om a recent study of about 1, 600 gay and bisexual men eight metropolan areas.

”But, as a gay man, he said that not havg the abily to donate blood had ma him feel “shunned by the ernment, ” and he was disappoted that the change took so long.