The US Food and Drug Administration is to end a lifelong ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. The ban was put in place in the early days of the AIDS epidemic in 1983. The US will now introduce a one year post-sex deferral period, like the one which came into effect in New Zealand this month. The FDA says it’s keeping a 12 month ban because “compelling scientific evidence is not available at this time to support a change to a deferral period less than one year while still ensuring the safety of the blood supply.” The US also has a 12-month deferral period for others, such straight people who have had sex with prostitutes or anyone who injects drugs. Scott Schoettes from American lgbti rights organisation Lambda Legal and the HIV Project says the removal of the move is a step in the right direction. “But blood donation policy should be based on current scientific knowledge and experience, not unfounded fear, generalisations and stereotypes,” he says. “Merely changing the parameters of this outdated policy does not alter its underlying discriminatory nature, eliminate its negative and stigmatising effects, nor transform it into a policy based on current scientific and medical knowledge.” Schoettes says that within 45 days of exposure, currently required blood donation testing detects all known serious blood-borne pathogens, including HIV. “Therefore, a deferral of more than two months—for anyone—is not necessary and does not noticeably enhance the safety of the blood supply.” He says donor deferrals should be based entirely on the conduct of the potential donor and not on sexual orientation, gender identity or the perceived health status or risk factors of the donor's sexual partners. “The reason is straight-forward, and is a foundational principle of our prevention efforts: an adult person becomes HIV-positive—or acquires another blood-borne pathogen—only after engaging in activities that present a risk of transmission. To base deferrals primarily on prevalence within certain communities rather than behaviour could serve to disqualify other segments of the population based on race, sex and where they reside—a very slippery slope toward more easily recognizable forms of illegal discrimination. “If we are serious about a policy that is truly most protective of the blood supply, it will treat all potential donors the same and base any deferrals on the conduct of those potential donors within a scientifically justified ‘window period’ prior to donation.” The group says it supports a fully-funded, more robust and comprehensive system for monitoring blood donations.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 26th December 2014 - 8:33am