when was it made ok for gay men to donate blood in the us?

Initially, a lifetime ban was placed and no gay man could donate blood. But in 2012 new rules came into place. As per the new rule, men had to have a gap of one year after any sexual contact with another man only then can they be eligible for blood donation.

Full Answer

Are gay men allowed to donate blood?

Apr 04, 2020 · Men who had sex with men (MSM) after 1977 were barred from donating blood between September 1985 and December 2015, when there was a lifetime ban against donating, even if there had been one ...

How long after sex can you donate blood (and why)?

Apr 15, 2020 · April 15, 2020, 9:00 AM · 9 min read. After the Food and Drug Administration changed the rules for blood donations from gay and bisexual men earlier this month, coronavirus survivor Lukus Estok saw...

Are you eligible to donate blood in the US?

Men who have not had sex with another man in more than 3 months are not deferred by the MSM guidance and may be eligible to donate blood. If an individual has been previously deferred from donating blood, that individual will need to call the Donor and Client Support Center at 1-866-236-3276 to confirm eligibility before coming to donate.

What is the Red Cross policy on LGBTQ+ blood donations?

Mar 04, 2022 · An installation created with blood donated by gay, bisexual & queer men in an effort to confront the FDA’s blood donation policy will open in Crown Heights on Friday. by Anna Bradley-Smith March 4, 2022. March 4, 2022. The blood preserved in the resin panels of Jordan Eagles’ art could have been used to save the lives of New Yorkers in need, during what is …

How old do you have to be to donate blood?

Blood donation rules and criteria. According to general blood donation criteria, donors must: be at least 16 years of age. weigh at least 110 pounds. not have mild illnesses, such as a cold or the flu. not have unmedicated diabetes, anemia, or hypertension (high blood pressure)

What do you need to know before donating blood?

Before donating blood, a person will need to complete a Blood Donor History Questionnaire (DHQ). Typically, the questions in the DHQ will ask a person about their health, recent travel, medications, and potential risk of infections.

How long is the MSM deferral period?

At present, the deferral period for MSM in the United States is now 3 months. Donating blood is vital to public health as it is a safe, quick, and easy way to help doctors and nurses save lives.

What is a needle used for?

using needles to take drugs, steroids, or other substances that a doctor has not prescribed. having sex with an individual who meets any of the above criteria in the last 3 months. receiving a blood transfusion in the last 3 months.

How long is the deferral period for blood donation?

Some experts recommend that the deferral period should instead be 2 weeks and that blood donation criteria should undergo further revision to treat all people equally. Rather than a discriminatory blanket ban on certain individuals, they say that blood centers could evaluate donors based on “concrete risky behaviors.”.

What is a 3 month deferral?

The 3-month deferral is an attempt to reduce the risk of passing on infections. If a person acquires an infection in this window, current screening methods and other tests may not be able to detect the infection. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Trusted Source.

What does the researcher #n#trusted source#have suggested?

Researchers#N#Trusted Source#N#have suggested that the current criteria rely on old biases and that scientists should advocate for policies rooted in science and against ones that unnecessarily marginalize groups of people.

How many chances of being struck by lightning in a lifetime?

For comparison, the odds of being struck by lightning in a lifetime (80 years) is 1 in 12,000, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The odds of being struck by lightning in a given year is 1 in 960,000. Berkman and Zhou also claim that all donated blood is tested for HIV prior to use.

Who is the Rep. who commented on the MSM?

On June 14, Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley put out a press release that included comment from Rep. Barbara Lee and other House Democrats on the FDA’s blood donation policy for MSM.

What percentage of the population is eligible to donate blood?

These eligibility criteria apply to all U.S. blood collection organizations. Only an estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood at any given time.

Does the Red Cross test blood for infectious diseases?

Yes. The Red Cross tests each unit of donated blood for a number of infectious diseases. While testing has greatly improved, it is not 100 percent effective at detecting infectious diseases in donors with very early infection.

Is blood donation based on sexual orientation?

The American Red Cross believes blood donation eligibility should not be determined by methods that are based upon sexual orientation. We are committed to working with partners toward achieving this goal. We understand that there is a difference between biological sex and gender.

When did HIV test come out?

They are the crux of every argument for overturning the ban on gay donors worldwide. When the first HIV tests arrived in 1985, they were relatively rudimentary, designed to detect high levels of antibodies in the blood -- which was only effective if HIV had evolved beyond its "window period.".

What is NAT test?

That changed in 1999 thanks to a faster and far more accurate process called Nucleic Acid Testing -- NAT, for short. Unlike the EIA test, the NAT can detect the amount of actual virus in the bloodstream, not just the antibodies produced to fight it.

What is the current federal policy on gay and bisexual men donating blood?

On April 2, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it was updating its policy regarding blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM), reducing the deferral period from 12 months to three months.

Who writes the policy?

The FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research regulates and establishes standards for the collection of blood and blood products. The center receives advise on this issue by the Blood Products Advisory Council, which meets regularly to consider issues such as altering the pool of potential blood donors.

What should the federal policy be?

Human Rights Campaign believes that the updated policy, like its precursors, does not treat persons with like risks in a similar way. It also believes that donors are deferred based on their membership in a group — in this case, all men who have sex with men — rather than engagement in risky behavior, such as unprotected sex.

What Is The Current Federal Policy on Gay and Bisexual Men Donating Blood?

See more on hrc.org

Who Writes The Policy?

What Should The Federal Policy be?