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| FDA drops lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men | FDA drops lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men |
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| US government health officials are lifting the nation’s 32-year-old lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, but major restrictions will remain on who can donate. | US government health officials are lifting the nation’s 32-year-old lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, but major restrictions will remain on who can donate. |
| Related: Gay blood donors denied under 1980s policy that has been slow to change | Related: Gay blood donors denied under 1980s policy that has been slow to change |
| The ban had been aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV, the virus which causes Aids, but medical groups and gay activists have long said the ban could no longer be justified, based on modern testing methods. The US Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that the change is “backed by sound science and continues to protect our blood supply”. | |
| Officials are replacing the blanket ban with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man in the previous year. While the policy has been criticized by activists, the FDA stance is in line with that of other countries, including Australia and Britain. The US lifetime ban was put in place during the early Aids crisis. | Officials are replacing the blanket ban with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man in the previous year. While the policy has been criticized by activists, the FDA stance is in line with that of other countries, including Australia and Britain. The US lifetime ban was put in place during the early Aids crisis. |
| The agency said people with hemophilia and related blood-clotting disorders will continue to be banned from donating blood due to potential harm they could suffer from large needles. Previously they were banned due to an increased risk of transmitting HIV. | The agency said people with hemophilia and related blood-clotting disorders will continue to be banned from donating blood due to potential harm they could suffer from large needles. Previously they were banned due to an increased risk of transmitting HIV. |
| The agency said it has also put in place a safety monitoring system for the blood supply, which it expects to provide “critical information” to help inform future FDA blood donor policies. | The agency said it has also put in place a safety monitoring system for the blood supply, which it expects to provide “critical information” to help inform future FDA blood donor policies. |
| “Ultimately, the 12-month deferral window is supported by the best available scientific evidence, at this point in time, relevant to the US population,” Dr Peter Marks, deputy director of the FDA’s biologics division, said in a statement. Several countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia, have 12-month deferrals. | |
| During the change in Australia from an indefinite blood donor deferral policy – essentially a ban – to a 12-month deferral, studies evaluating more than 8 million units of donated blood were performed using a national blood surveillance system, the FDA said. | During the change in Australia from an indefinite blood donor deferral policy – essentially a ban – to a 12-month deferral, studies evaluating more than 8 million units of donated blood were performed using a national blood surveillance system, the FDA said. |
| “These published studies document no change in risk to the blood supply with use of the 12-month deferral,” the agency said. “Similar data are not available for shorter deferral intervals.” | “These published studies document no change in risk to the blood supply with use of the 12-month deferral,” the agency said. “Similar data are not available for shorter deferral intervals.” |
| The agency said its policies to date have helped reduce HIV transmission rates from blood transfusions from 1 in 2,500 to 1 in 1.47 million. | The agency said its policies to date have helped reduce HIV transmission rates from blood transfusions from 1 in 2,500 to 1 in 1.47 million. |
| Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. |