End blood donation restrictions for gay men to help with national shortage | Opinion
In the worst blood shortage in almost a decade, leaders have asked all communities to help. Except for gay men, who are still barred from donating due to outdated (and unfair) rules.
When national tragedy strikes, gay and bisexual men are denied the right to help our community due to outdated restrictions on blood donations that prevent us from participating in this vital community service.
Last week the Red Cross sounded the alarm, alerting the nation about the worst blood shortage in more than a decade. Due to the pandemic, blood is in such dangerously low supply that some hospitals have been forced to postpone significant surgeries, including organ transplants. Leaders called for more blood donations, for all communities to do their part and donate to save lives.
Except for gay men, who are still told, “But not you.”
» READ MORE: Low supply of donated blood is a ‘crisis,’ Red Cross says
Despite society’s scientific advancements, some people are still seen as vectors of disease. Or undeserving of answering the call to help in this moment of crisis. Because of who we are, whom we love.
Forty years into the HIV/AIDS crisis, science has made it possible to ensure the safety of our blood supply. International health guidelines require all blood products to be tested for viruses such as HIV, and in most countries, rigorous testing procedures are in place. During the screening process, any blood products that contain HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or syphilis are disposed of before entering the blood supply chain. Today, the risk for acquiring HIV infection through blood transfusion is estimated conservatively to be one in 1.5 million (based on 2007-08 data).
Yet current Food and Drug Administration guidance, updated in April 2020, does not reflect these realities. To be eligible to donate blood in the United States, men who have sex with men must abstain from same-sex sexual activity for 90 days.
This is a policy that’s time has come and gone. The FDA’s continued restrictions on blood donations from men who have sex with men send a message that, despite everything we know about science, some of us are not equal.
We saw this during the Pulse nightclub shooting and during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. When the time comes to support victims of senseless violence, we often feel excluded from the solution — which is yet another reminder that our community is often excluded from society.
I, and members of the LGBTQ community, am not alone in calling for the FDA to repeal this ban. After news of the shortage broke last week, more than two dozen members of Congress sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock urging the FDA to abolish the restrictions on gay men donating blood. The American Medical Association has called for similar action, urging the FDA “to take future steps to remove the categorical restrictions for blood donations by men who have sex with men so they are instead based on a person’s individual risk, consistent with the latest scientific evidence, to ensure blood donation criteria is equitably applied across all people.”
In the last few months, other nations have shown that by utilizing science, one can allow for both donation and dignity. In France, Greece, Israel, and the United Kingdom, recent changes have allowed for gay and bisexual men to donate blood with fewer restrictions, shedding a problematic past and embracing the reality of our current situation. These donations and modern science allow us to maintain a healthy, safe process that helps increase the supply, for the good of everyone.
The FDA can and should move quickly to end this ban, which hurts an already stressed health-care system while dehumanizing gay and bisexual men.
Sultan Shakir is president and executive officer of the Mazzoni Center.