![can gay men donate blood red cross can gay men donate blood red cross](https://storage.googleapis.com/article-contents/media/2021/05/nguy-n-hi-p-maYeMl3xCrY-unsplash-1024x578.jpg)
According to the Food and Drug Administration, this pre-screening eliminates up to 90 percent of donors who. A pilot study with three of the nations largest blood donation organizations could help the FDA change its blood. In December 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved from a lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood to a deferral of one year for any man who has had sex with another man during the past 12 months.
![can gay men donate blood red cross can gay men donate blood red cross](https://georgetownvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LGBTQ-Blood-Donation-Illustration-by-Max-Zhang-1.jpg)
The FDA is currently working on a study to determine if individual risk assessment could replace a time-based deferral policy as an effective way to protect the blood supply. Health News Florida: Study Could Ease FDA Blood-Donation Restrictions For Gay Men.
![can gay men donate blood red cross can gay men donate blood red cross](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/B8ND0R3b5Q9tUHKS-C9NU3yzjkI=/1200x0/right/middle/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/7R4DPGLWIVBVZFKJ5PMIZKC3VQ.jpg)
Instead of blocking all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood, the FDA should compliment nucleic acid testing “with an individual risk-based assessment based on our robust knowledge of how HIV is transmitted,” Kinsley wrote.Īssessing individual behavior means screening for “engagement in risky behavior, such as unprotected sex,” according to the Human Rights Campaign. Like millions of other gay men, Dassey used to give blood a few times a year without a second thought. The Red Cross says it’s helping evaluate other criteria that could be used to identify eligible donors, but in the meantime, it can’t as a regulated organization “unilaterally enact changes concerning” the deferral policy for gay and bisexual men. The Red Cross says blood donation eligibility shouldn’t be determined by sexual orientation, and acknowledges “the hurt this policy has caused to many in the LGBTQ+ community.” Doing away with the deferral policy also has the support of the American Medical Association. The deferral period was shortened to 90 days in April 2020, soon after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when there was a substantial drop in the nationwide blood supply. In December 2015, the FDA lifted the ban, replacing it with a policy allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood, but only if they hadn’t been sexually active for 12 months. Up until a few years ago, gay and bisexual men were subject to a lifetime ban on blood donation that was put in place in 1983, at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Elizabeth Tilson, the letter was signed by health officials from California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon and Washington, D.C. On Thursday, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf asking the agency to remove a blood donor deferral policy that prevents men who have had sex with another man in the last 90 days from donating blood. North Carolina’s top health official, joined by public health leaders from eight other states and the District of Columbia, is asking the Food and Drug Administration to lift a three-month waiting period for gay men who are sexually active to donate blood.