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FDA to Ease Restriction on Gay Men Donating Blood

The headquarters of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seen in Silver Spring, Maryland, November 4, 2009.
The headquarters of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seen in Silver Spring, Maryland, November 4, 2009. | (Photo: Reuters/Jason Reed)

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the implementation of a new blood donation policy that allows gay men to donate blood.

Reversing a 30+ year policy, the FDA announced Monday that homosexual men can donate blood provided that they do so after having abstained from sex for at least one year.

"As part of today's finalized blood donor deferral guidance, the FDA is changing its recommendation that men who have sex with men (MSM) be indefinitely deferred – a policy that has been in place for approximately 30 years – to 12 months since the last sexual contact with another man," stated the FDA.

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"These updated recommendations better align the deferral period for MSM with the deferral period for other men and women at increased risk for HIV infection – such as those who had a recent blood transfusion or those who have been accidentally exposed to the blood of another individual."

In 1983, the FDA established an indefinite ban on blood donations from men who had sexual intercourse with other men at any point in their lifetime.

This file photo shows an anonymous person giving a blood donation.
This file photo shows an anonymous person giving a blood donation. | (Photo: Reuters/file)

The ban came in response to the outbreak of HIV/AIDS, as many people were contracting the disease via transfusions from blood donated by HIV-positive individuals.

A famous example was professional African-American tennis player Arthur Ashe, who contracted the AIDS virus due to a blood transfusion.

"At the time, little was known about the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes the disease, and there was no quick test to determine whether somebody had it," according to The New York Times.

"Restrictions on donors were written when HIV testing was slower and less refined. Today, some tests can detect the virus in blood as little as nine days after infection."

In December 2014, the FDA released a statement announcing their intentions to recommend a change to their blood donation policy.

"Over the past several years, in collaboration with other government agencies, the FDA has carefully examined and considered the available scientific evidence relevant to its blood donor deferral policy for men who have sex with men," stated the FDA last December.

"Following this review, and taking into account the recommendations of advisory committees to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FDA, the agency will take the necessary steps to recommend a change to the blood donor deferral period for men who have sex with men from indefinite deferral to one year since the last sexual contact."

The United Kingdom and Australia are among the nations who have already implemented a 12-month waiting period for gay men donating blood.

"During the change in Australia from an indefinite blood donor deferral policy for MSM to a 12-month deferral, well-conducted studies evaluating over 8 million units of donated blood were performed using a national blood surveillance system," noted the FDA on Monday.

"These published studies document no change in risk to the blood supply with use of the 12-month deferral. Similar data are not available for shorter deferral intervals."

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