Gay and bisexual men may be allowed to donate blood under a proposal by the FDA.
ARI SHAPIRO is the host.
Men who have sex with men may be allowed to donate blood. The current policy is being criticized for being discrimination while also helping to alleviate a nationwide blood shortage. Rob Stein is reporting on the story. Hey, Rob!
Ari, by the way, hello, Rob Stein.
There are restrictions on men having sex with men who are giving blood.
The restrictions were put in place to protect the blood supply from the AIDS virus. Gay and bisexual men were not allowed to donate blood because they were afraid of getting HIV. As the understanding of the epidemic has evolved, the restrictions have gradually been removed. Gay and bisexual men were allowed to donate blood if they hadn't had sexual contact with other men for a year. The FDA was able to shorten the blood shortage from three months to two. The current policy is being reexamined because it has been criticized as unnecessary, counter-productive and discriminatory.
There is a proposal for the new policy.
The new policy would allow anyone to donate regardless of their gender and sexual identity if they haven't had sex in the past three months. It would include injecting drugs or engaging in sex work. It would bring the U.S. policy in line with other countries.
What would this policy do? What kind of implementation would it be?
Right, Stein. If you want to donate blood, you'll have to answer a new question. The results of a study of 1,600 gay and bisexual men would be used to create a set of screening questions that would identify potential donors who are most likely to be HIV positive. As it works out the exact details of the new policy, the FDA is reviewing the results of that study to make sure it encourages as much donation as possible. Blood banks often screen donors for HIV.
What has the response been to this?
It has been positive so far. Many groups have been pushing for this for a long time, including the American Medical Association and the American Red Cross. The group GLAAD has been critical of the current policy.
Tony Morrow said that the policy assumes that HIV is a gay disease. For a long time, we have advocated for this.
Stein says his group is waiting for more information to make sure the new policy goes far enough. I spoke to infectious disease experts who were happy with the change. There is a doctor at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Bruce Walker thinks that if individual risk is assessed, we'll be in a better situation.
The agency is expected to propose new guidelines in the next few months and then issue a new policy later in the year.
Rob Stein is a health correspondent forNPR. Thank you, thanks.
Ari, you bet, Stein.
NNIE TRUMPET'S SOCIAL EXPERIMENT SONG "PASS THE VIBE" was recorded.
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