By Lyndsey Kelly

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – A series of hearings that many expect will ease the blanket ban on gay men donating blood is set to begin this week. A U.S. advisory panel recommended for the first time in 31 years, that a ban preventing gay and bisexual men from donating blood be partially ended. Such a reformation will put the United States’ policies in line with other countries.

The nation’s current policy bars men who have had sex with other men anytime since 1977 from giving blood in the United States. This policy dates back to the AIDS crisis in 1983, due to concerns that the virus could be transmitted through blood transfusions. According to the FDA’s website, the risk of getting HIV from a blood transfusion is about 1 per 2 million units of blood transfused. Groups such as the American Red Cross say that the risk of HIV transmission in this manner is infinitesimal in many cases, and does not justify a full ban on blood donations by gay men. If the current ban was to be completely eliminated, which does not seem likely at this point in time, 360,600 men would probably donate approximately 615,300 pints of blood a year. This would then aid 1.8 million people, according to a study done in September by the University of California.

On Thursday, the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood & Tissue Safety & Availability will hear results from studies on how MSM might respond to a change in blood-donation rules and current risks of transfusion-transmitted viral infections. Doctors and advocated who advise the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services voted 16-2 on 29 November, suggesting that men who have had sex with other men should be able to donate blood only after being abstinent for one year. This will compensate for the 11-day window that current HIV tests have in which the virus cannot be detected.

While there is an agreement among experts that the current policy needs to be addressed, there is no consensus on how to change it. Recommendations of various advisory committees will be considered by a group of advisors to the Food and Drug Administration on 2 December. However, the FDA is not compelled to follow the recommendations.

 

For more information, please see the following:

BLOOMBERG – Blood Donations By Gay Men Gain Support In U.S. Panel Vote – 13 Nov. 2014.

FOX NEWS – FDA to Weigh Lifting Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood – 28 November 2014.

WASHINGTON POST –Government could Ear 31-Year-Old Ban On Blood Donations From Gay Men – 29 Nov. 2014.

WASHINGTON TIMES – Gay Blood –Donor Ban Under Review – 12 November 2014.