It is a constructive however not at all full step. And it's unclear when the F.D.A. will attain a choice. Because the company put it when it launched the one-year deferral, as a result of the method was "knowledge pushed," it "couldn't specify a time for when future coverage adjustments would possibly happen."
Within the meantime, individuals like me who wish to donate badly wanted blood are barred from doing so, except they take a yearlong vow of celibacy.
Now, I'm not oblivious to details; the textbooks present that H.I.V. is extra prevalent amongst homosexual and bisexual males. Nonetheless, in addition they inform us that heterosexuals who've unprotected intercourse with individuals who don't know their standing have the next threat of contracting the virus than a homosexual man who makes use of safety with somebody who is aware of his standing.
Barring a whole group of individuals primarily based on the gender of their sexual associate is not any much less outlandish than barring individuals primarily based on the place they dwell. In 2014, the latest date for full knowledge, the nationwide H.I.V. price per 100,000 individuals was 12.6; nevertheless, in Washington, D.C., it was 74.three. Ought to the F.D.A. ban blood donations by residents of the nation's capital?
And what if the F.D.A. have been to ban blood donations primarily based on different traits, like a donor's race? African-People "have probably the most extreme burden of H.I.V." of all racial and ethnic teams in the US and accounted for 44 % of the brand new diagnoses in 2014, in line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Ought to the F.D.A. "defer" African-People from donating blood except they've been abstinent for 12 months?
The reply to each questions is clear: after all not. And the reply needs to be the identical for males who've intercourse with males.
The F.D.A. ought to undertake a contemporary blood donor deferral coverage that's primarily based on the chance of particular person donors, as decided in interviews by individuals educated to make that willpower. This strategy is used efficiently in Italy and Spain, amongst different nations. In Italy, donors are requested to chorus from giving blood if they've been concerned in sexual actions which have a excessive threat of H.I.V. transmission. Spain asks donors if they've engaged in particular dangerous sexual habits within the final six months. Merely being homosexual just isn't grounds for computerized deferral in these international locations.
In my work with the Nationwide Homosexual Blood Drive, I've heard straight from sufferers and their members of the family about their want for blood. After I used to be lastly in a position to make my donation on Tuesday, a mom messaged me on Fb, thanking me for giving her son "and youngsters like him the instruments to struggle." You possibly can't assist however properly up while you hear that.
All potential donors, no matter race, age, creed or the gender of their sexual companions, needs to be questioned about any dangerous sexual habits. Till this F.D.A. coverage is rescinded and changed by a extra enlightened strategy, individuals like me will probably be forbidden to donate blood. This determination needs to be primarily based on the most effective particular person evaluation of an individual's threat and never pushed by stigma and worry.
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