In an effort to bring thousands of new donors, the
American Red Cross (ARC) is lobbying the US government to lift the
Department of Health and Human Services’ ban on gay blood donors.
According to the American Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) gay men are
at higher risk of contracting and transmitting HIV and other diseases such
as hepatitis, which poses a health risk. Because of this, FDA imposed a
policy in 1985 that prohibits any man who has had sex with another man
from donating blood.
The Red Cross along with the American Association of Blood banks (AABB)
and America’s Blood Centres (ABC) is asking for guidelines that treat all
donors equally. "The AABB, ABC and ARC believe that the current lifetime
deferral for men who have had sex with other men is medically and
scientifically unwarranted and recommend that deferral criteria be
modified and made compatible with criteria for other groups at increased
risk for sexual transmission of transfusion-transmitted infections," the
organizations said in a joint statement.
The Hunk
