![why cant gay men donate blood in the us why cant gay men donate blood in the us](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/vPNQNpHboVX8uSHTPuUW_y7ClCs=/0x381:4717x3034/1600x900/media/img/mt/2016/06/AP_16165041860255/original.jpg)
This antibody is not harmful to you and it is not harmful if transfused to a patient. It is likely you previously had COVID-19 and developed an antibody response to the virus. each day, according to the American Red Cross.A reactive (positive) result means antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 were found in your blood. A 2010 study found that a one-year ban would allow 89,716 more pints of blood to be donated each year, while lifting it completely would add 219,200 more pints.Ībout 44,000 pints of blood are needed in the U.S.
![why cant gay men donate blood in the us why cant gay men donate blood in the us](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cbrc/pages/905/attachments/original/1560199659/Missed_The_Mark_revised_copy.png)
Still, the benefits of allowing gay men to donate could greatly outweigh such risks. The risk of contracting HIV through donor blood is very low but not nonexistant, Benjamin said, with at least half a dozen cases in the past decade according to American Red Cross estimates. In 2010, a group of Democratic senators unsuccessfully lobbied the FDA for its removal. The Red Cross and other national and international blood organizations have also advocated for lifting the ban. Richard Benjamin, chief medical officer for the American Red Cross, told CBS News in March. "A female who has had sex with someone known to have HIV has a 12-month deferral, where a man who had sex with a man gets a lifetime deferral," Dr. There is no way to determine through the donor questionnaire whether MSM who are in monogamous relationships or who consistently practice safe sex are at lower risk, the policy also says.īut other groups have much shorter deferrals when it comes to HIV risk. However the incidence in MSM increased 12%, while it decreased in other populations." Between 20, the estimated overall incidence of HIV was stable in the U.S. and an estimated 77% of diagnosed HIV infections among males were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact. "In 2010, MSM accounted for at least 61% of all new HIV infections in the U.S. "Men who have had sex with other men represent approximately 2% of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV," the policy states. The FDA, which regulates the nation's blood supply, currently states that men who have had sex with other men (MSM) at any time since 1977 are "deferred," or prohibited, from blood donations "because MSM are, as a group, at increased risk for HIVm, hepatitis B and certain other indections that can be transmitted by transfusion." "This new policy urges a federal policy change to ensure blood donation bans or deferrals are applied to donors according to their individual level of risk and are not based on sexual orientation alone." "The lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have sex with men is discriminatory and not based on sound science," said AMA board member William Kobler, MD, in a statement. Gay men were and still are among the groups most at risk for HIV, but scientific knowledge of the disease and testing procedures have improved tremendously in the past few decades.
![why cant gay men donate blood in the us why cant gay men donate blood in the us](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/06/15/12/44246043-9688107-image-a-11_1623757558036.jpg)
![why cant gay men donate blood in the us why cant gay men donate blood in the us](https://post.medicalnewstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/donate_blood_GettyImages923775802_Thumb.jpg)
Food and Drug Administration lift its ban on gay male blood donors, which has been in place since 1983.Īt that time the government was concerned with HIV spreading through blood donations, and no reliable test for the virus existed. The American Medical Association voted to recommend the U.S. Gay men should be allowed to donate blood in the United States, according to the nation's largest association of doctors.