Gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can donate blood in the United States without abstaining from sex, under a federal policy finalized Thursday by health regulators.
The Food and Drug Administration guidelines relax decades-old restrictions designed to protect the blood supply against HIV. THE the agency announced its plans for the change in January and said this week that the new approach can now be implemented by blood banks.
The updated guidelines remove the requirement for men who have sex with men to abstain from sex for three months before donating blood.
Instead, all potential donors – regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender – will be screened with a new questionnaire that assesses their individual HIV risks based on sexual behavior, recent partners and other factors. . Potential donors who report having had anal sex with new partners within the past three months will be prohibited from donating until a later date.
The FDA said the new policy reflects the latest scientific evidence and is consistent with current rules in the UK and Canada.
This is the latest move by the FDA to expand donor eligibility, with the potential to increase donations.
“Implementing these recommendations will represent an important milestone for the agency and the LGBTQI+ community,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biological Therapies, said in a statement.
Gay rights groups have long opposed blanket restrictions on who can donate blood, saying they are discriminatory. Medical societies, including the American Medical Association, have also said such exclusions are unnecessary given advances in blood testing.
Anyone who has ever tested positive for HIV will still not be able to donate blood. Those taking pills to prevent HIV through sexual contact will also still be banned, up to three months after their last dose. The FDA noted that the drugs, known as PrEP, can delay detection of the virus in screening tests.
The FDA establishes requirements and procedures for US blood banks. All potential donors answer questions about their sexual history, injection drug use, and any recent tattoos or piercings, among other factors that can contribute to the spread of blood-borne infections. Donated blood is then tested for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and other infectious diseases.
In 2015, the FDA dropped lifetime ban on donations from men who have sex with men and replaced it with a one-year abstinence requirement. Then in 2020, the agency shorten the period of abstinence to three months, after the drop in donations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regulators said there was no negative impact on the blood supply as a result of these changes.