FDA recommends ending ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended the end of a three-decade ban on blood donations from homosexual and bisexual men.

However, some restrictions will remain, and the FDA’s recommended policy will bar donations from men who have had gay sex in the previous year.

In a press statement the FDA said,

Over the past several years, in collaboration with other government agencies, the FDA has carefully examined and considered the available scientific evidence relevant to its blood donor deferral policy for men who have sex with men, including the results of several recently completed scientific studies and recent epidemiologic data. Following this review, and taking into account the recommendations of advisory committees to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FDA, the agency will take the necessary steps to recommend a change to the blood donor deferral period for men who have sex with men from indefinite deferral to one year since the last sexual contact.

This recommended change is consistent with the recommendation of an independent expert advisory panel the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability, and will better align the deferral period with that of other men and women at increased risk for HIV infection. Additionally, in collaboration with the NIH’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the FDA has already taken steps to implement a national blood surveillance system that will help the agency monitor the effect of a policy change and further help to ensure the continued safety of the blood supply.

The existing rule has been in place for 31 years and dates from the first years of the AIDS crisis, and was intended to protect the blood supply from exposure to the little-understood disease.