What is FDA's policy on blood donations from men who have sex with other men (MSM)?
Men who have had sex with other men, at any time since 1977 (the
beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the United States) are currently deferred as
blood donors. This is because MSM are, as a group, at increased risk for HIV,
hepatitis B and certain other infections that can be transmitted by
transfusion.
The policy is not unique to the United States. Many European
countries have recently reexamined both the science and ethics of the lifetime
MSM deferral, and have retained it (See the transcript of
the "FDA Workshop on Behavior-Based Donor Deferrals in the NAT Era" at
http://www.fda.gov/cber/minutes/nat030806t.htm#7 for further information.).
This decision is also consistent with the prevailing interpretation of the
European Union Directive 2004/33/EC article 2.1 on donor deferrals.
Why doesn't FDA allow men who have had sex with men to donate
blood?
A history of male-to-male sex is associated with an increased risk for
the presence of and transmission of certain infectious diseases, including HIV,
the virus that causes AIDS. FDA's policy is intended to protect all people who
receive blood transfusions from an increased risk of exposure to potentially
infected blood and blood products.
However, the FDA's statement fails to acknowledge that in recent years several countries such as Australia, Portugal, Russia, Spain and South Africa have changed their lifetime ban on gay men donating blood.
According to the Washington Blade, the American Association of Blood Banks, the Council of Community Blood Centers and the American Red Cross have called the lifetime ban for men who’ve had sex with men since 1977 “medically and scientifically unwarranted.”
Students at UCLA and other colleges have started to protest the lifetime ban on men who have sex with men from donating blood.
