The US is moving to further ease restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men and other groups that typically face higher risks of HIV.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday announced draft guidelines that would do away with a three-month abstinence requirement for donations from men who have sex with men.
Instead, all potential donors would be screened with a new questionnaire that evaluates their individual risks for HIV based on sexual behavior, recent partners and other factors.
Photo: AFP
If finalized, many gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships would be able to donate blood for the first time in decades.
It is the latest move by the FDA to broaden donor eligibility, with the potential to boost donations.
“We feel confident that the safety of the blood supply will be maintained,” FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Peter Marks told reporters.
Gay rights groups have long opposed blanket restrictions on who can give blood, saying they discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
Medical societies including the American Medical Association have also said such exclusions are unnecessary given advances in technology to test blood for infectious diseases.
“Current and former blood donation policies made unfounded assumptions about gay and bisexual men and really entangled individuals’ identity with their likelihood of having HIV,” Human Rights Campaign legal director Sarah Warbelow said.
The US and many other countries started blocking blood donations from gay and bisexual men during the early 1980’s AIDS epidemic, aiming to prevent the spread of HIV through the blood supply.
In 2015, the FDA dropped the lifetime ban and replaced it with a one-year abstinence requirement. In 2020, the agency shortened the abstinence period to three months, after donations plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regulators said there has been no negative effect on the blood supply as a result of the changes.
The FDA sets requirements and procedures for blood banks throughout the US.
All potential donors answer questions about their sexual history, injectable drug use and any recent tattoos or piercing, among other factors that can contribute to the spread of blood-borne infections.
Donated blood is then tested for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and other infectious diseases.
Under the new proposal, men who have sex with men are to be asked if they have had new or multiple partners in the past three months. Those who answer affirmatively to either question and also report having anal sex would be barred from donating until a later date.
The policy would also apply to women who have sex with gay or bisexual men.
The proposed policy mirrors those used in Canada and the UK.
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