A panel advising the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ease bans on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. This is an excellent idea.
The FDA has indefinitely deferred men who have had sex with other men from donating blood since 1983. The justification for this ban was the association of male-to-male sex with an increased risk of HIV.
The current policy acts as a blanket ban for all men who have had sex with men and fails to consider individual risk assessments, which creates and reinforces stigmas that contribute to homophobia.
Even heterosexual donors who indicate they’ve had sex with an HIV-positive partner can donate blood after a year. This directly contradicts the reasoning used to ban donations from gay and bisexual men.
Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom have deferral periods of one year or five years. A study from the Australian Red Cross indicated there was no significant increase in HIV risk for blood recipients after the deferral period was shortened from five years to one.
