FDA Proposes New Guidelines For Blood

“This is something that all starts with unprotected sex, orally or another [way]. They are obviously transmitting more diseases than when they are protected,” MPSH senior and president of HOSA Rebecca Montero said.

The United States began blocking blood donations from gay and bisexual men during the 1980s AIDS epidemic to prevent the spread of HIV through the blood supply.

In the proposed guidelines, those who are on oral medications to prevent HIV infection such as Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) will also be delayed from donating blood. This is because data demonstrates that the use of PrEP and PEP may be a factor in the delayed results of HIV by licensed screening tests for blood donations, potentially causing false negative results.

Prior to 2015, gay men could not donate blood at all. Beginning that year, they became eligible to donate only if they had not had sex with a man in one year. In April of that year, the policy was updated to reduce the period of one year to only three months.

“It [the changes] is definitely a step in the right direction. I mean whenever you can treat everybody more equally, right? [The current guidelines] are not hurting the people that couldn’t donate blood; they are hurting the people that need to receive blood. There might not be enough blood on hand because certain people can’t donate. We have the ability to test the blood. So to single out that group, I think it is just, it’s about time that they re-look at that policy,” MPSH English teacher and sponsor of Gay-StraightAlliance Club Daniel Hurst said.

Advocacy groups and medical organizations have urged the FDA to lift and change these donation restrictions due to the blood supply shortage in the United States and the discrimination that comes with the practice.

“I do think it’s outdated because it is discriminating against a certain group of people. Now, I understand that the [FDA]is a regulated organization. It is not like they can just say, ‘Okay, let’s get rid of this rule.’ But it is about time because this policy has been in place for as long as I know and I think they are missing out on an opportunity to get more blood if they just take a different look at how they qualify people,” Hurst said.

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Ava Stuzin

Brooke Wilensky a.stuzin.panther@gmail.com

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