Homo-chromatosis?
This summer, MedFLAG met with the American Red Cross and discussed the lifetime deferral of donation for men who have sex with men. This policy that was born out of the AIDS epidemic in the early 80′s is outdated and prevents lifesaving donations of blood and tissue to be made based on discriminatory assumptions.
“In a commentary opining that the lifetime ban has no scientific justification, Bob Roehr, a biomedical journalist from Washington, DC, notes that other high-risk groups are not similarly excluded from blood donation. Drug users and female sex workers, for example, are permitted to donate blood after 1 year has elapsed from the last high-risk behavior.” (FromMedScape)
The Red Cross and other groups are working towards changing the deferral policy to target at-risk behaviors (i.e. unsafe sex, drug use, etc.) and not specific groups based on stereotyping.
More information can be found in this 2010 report: A DRIVE FOR CHANGE: REFORMING U.S. BLOOD DONATION POLICIES
Tyler Oakley can say it better than I can most days… Subscribe if you like his other posts!
“Because HIV is transmitted by unsafe sex not gay sex, blood donors should be screened for the safety of their sexual activity, not the gender of their sexual partner.”
-Michael Cain
I appreciate all of your blood drive promotion! I wish I could donate, but that whole Africa thing is prohibitive.
Actually, the guidelines are the same for female sex workers–they are not allowed to give blood ever if they have engaged in “risky behavior” since 1977. Also, people who were ever IV drug users can’t ever give blood either. See the American Red Cross Donation Guidelines here:
http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-topic
It may be discrimination, but they are discriminating equally among the groups with the highest risk factors.
Erin-
I see your point, but I still think that they are discriminating unfairly. There are many men in monogamous relationships with men who engage in protected intercourse. There is no reason to assume that ALL men who are engaging in sex with men are being risky about it.
Women are the fastest increasing groups of HIV infections, so should we exclude ALL women from donating?
http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2005/03/08/index.html
I believe that we should ask all potential donors about their sexual activity (unprotected sex) and not the sex of their partner in order to determine eligibility.
Suzy, I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog! Thanks for finding the time inbetween classes to write.