Blood Donation Ban Is Only The First Barrier To Medical Equality For Gay Men

Some gay and bisexual men who want to donate blood will be able to once the Food and Drug Administration's new recommendations take effect. The revised policy will overturn the current lifelong ban on blood from men who have sex with other men and permit donations from men who have abstained from sexual contact with another man for at least 12 months. Detractors argue that even this 12-month period is not medically sensible and potentially harmful to the large number of people who need blood donations. But the anticipated change in policy also highlights inequities in other areas of medical donation -- namely, tissue and organ donation. Per FDA guidelines, men who have had sex with other men in the last five years are among those currently ineligible to donate tissue and cells. Now that blood donation by gay and bisexual men will be permissible after 12 months of abstinence, the five-year deferral period for cell and tissue donation doesn't make much sense, said Ian Thompson, a legislative representative for the American Civil Liberties Union on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. "The question has to be posed to the FDA now: If there is only a need for a one-year deferral for a blood donation, why does there need to be a deferral period significantly greater than that for these other areas?" Thompson told The Huffington Post. "Given their announcement [Tuesday], they certainly should review those other policies as well, with an eye on making them consistent...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news