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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reportedly has plans to lift some of the restrictions that prevent most gay and bisexual men from donating blood.
People familiar with the plans said so Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the federal agency would issue the new rules in the coming months. These rules would reportedly require all potential donors to complete an individual risk assessment. Although the WSJ did not specify which questions would appear in this assessment, it is reported that potential donors can be asked if they have had multiple sex partners in the past three months and if they have had anal sex with any of those partners. If they have had anal sex with new or multiple partners, they have to wait three months before they can donate; however, all other donors are eligible.
That WSJ Sources said FDA regulations would likely include such questions, stating that unprotected anal sex poses a higher risk of HIV transmission than other forms of sex and that three months is a “reasonable waiting period” since HIV infection occurs within of this window would be obvious . However, it is unclear whether these reviews would account for the use of PrEP and/or condoms, which greatly reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
Out of 1985 to 2015all men who have had sexual intercourse with another man even once since 1977 excluded from donating blood, ostensibly to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV through donated blood. In 2015, this policy was changed – but only for men who had abstained from sex with men for 12 months prior to donating blood. Blood shortages in 2020 prompted the FDA to shorten that period to three months.
Advocates hailed the move as an important step forward but continued to push for the lifting of discriminatory restrictions on qualified LGBTQ+ blood donors. Sarah Kate Ellis, the President and CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement that “bans and restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men are based on stigma, not science.”
“Giving some people one set of rules and others a different set of rules based solely on identity is blatant discrimination,” Ellis said. “This fight won’t be over until all LGBTQ Americans who want to donate blood are faced with the same protocols as other Americans. All potential blood donors whose donation could save lives should be treated equally. There is no excuse for choosing stigma over science in 2022.”