Ban Kept for Gay Men Donating Blood

Associated Press - May 23, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Gay men remain banned for life from donating blood,
the government said Wednesday, leaving in place -- for now -- a 1983
prohibition meant to prevent the spread of HIV through transfusions.

The Food and Drug Administration reiterated its long-standing policy
on its Web site Wednesday, more than a year after the Red Cross and
two other blood groups criticized the policy as "medically and
scientifically unwarranted."

"I am disappointed, I must confess," said Dr. Celso Bianco, executive
vice president of America's Blood Centers, whose members provide
nearly half the nation's blood supply.

Before giving blood, all men are asked if they have had sex, even
once, with another man since 1977. Those who say they have are
permanently banned from donating. The FDA said those men are at
increased risk of infection by HIV that can be transmitted to others
by blood transfusion.

In March 2006, the Red Cross, the international blood association AABB
and America's Blood Centers proposed replacing the lifetime ban with a
one-year deferral following male-to-male sexual contact. New and
improved tests, which can detect HIV-positive donors within just 10 to
21 days of infection, make the lifetime ban unnecessary, the blood
groups told the FDA.

In a document posted Wednesday, the FDA said it would change its
policy if given data that show doing so wouldn't pose a "significant
and preventable" risk to blood recipients.

"It is a way of saying, 'Whatever was presented to us was not
sufficient to make us change our minds,"' Bianco said.

The FDA said HIV tests currently in use are highly accurate, but still
cannot detect the virus 100 percent of the time. The estimated HIV
risk from a unit of blood is currently about one per 2 million in the
United States, according to the agency.

Critics of the exclusionary policy said it bars potential healthy
donors, despite the increasing need for donated blood, and
discriminates against gays. The FDA recognized the policy defers many
healthy donors but rejected the suggestion it's discriminatory.

Anyone who's used intravenous drugs or been paid for sex also is
permanently barred from donating blood.

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Jim Pickett
via 'Berry