Pampee Young, chief medical officer of the Red Cross. “Hospitals are still seeing accident victims, cancer patients, those with blood disorders like sickle cell disease, and individuals who are seriously ill who all need blood transfusions to live even as Omicron cases surge across the country,” said Dr. The new criteria focuses on individual behaviours, lifting a. lefteh (9424) Great Answer (4) Flag as ¶ I think it’s a shame that gay men should have to resort to lying about their sexuality just to give blood to those who might need it. That being said, it’s really easy for us to say No, I’m not gay. Health centers are in desperate need of blood. In 2021, the organization experienced a 34 percent decrease in new donors, according to the Red Cross, and blood storages have dropped below one day supplies. Blood donation rules for gay and bisexual men are being relaxed across the UK, in what the government is calling a 'landmark change'. I’ll repeat that: one out of two million. banned men who have sex with other men from donating blood during the AIDs crisis, and the rule was kept firmly in place until 2015. Following the April request, the wait period was shortened to 90 days.Ī group of 22 senators issued a similar letter to the FDA and Department of Health and Human Services, urging the agencies to take the “long overdue” step. The letter follows an April 2020 message from the Queens representatives urging the agency to scale back a similar policy – previously, men who have sex with other men would have to wait a year after their last sexual encounter to donate blood. “With the addition of an individualized risk-based assessment, the deferral period for allĭonors in the United States-including -could potentially be eliminated,” they continued, criticizing the existing policy which “continues to stigmatize gay and bisexual men and undermine crucial efforts to ensure an adequate and stable national blood supply.” “In light of the urgent crisis facing America’s blood supply, we urge FDA to take immediate action to reassess the existing three-month blanket deferral period for gay and bisexual men so that every person who can safely donate blood in the United States has the opportunity to do so.”
“The three-month deferral period continues to prevent gay and bisexual men from safely donating blood,” wrote the members.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Carolyn Maloney joined a group of colleagues from across the country to urge the Food and Drug Administration to reevaluate blood donation policy that prevents gay and bisexual men from participating. 11 announcement of the American Red Cross’ first-ever national blood crisis amid the surge of the Omicron variant, Queens congressmembers are calling for blood donation policies to catch up with 2022 and ensure all willing donors are able. In 2019, the Canadian government said that gay men had to abstain from sex for three months to be able to donate. Now, all restrictions have been removed.In the wake of the historic Jan. In December, the FDA eliminated its longstanding lifetime ban barring gay and bisexual men from donating blood, instead requiring that they abstain from sex for a year before they can donate. Over time, that policy changed to require men to abstain from sex for a certain period - even a number of years - to be able to donate. Health Canada called the step a "significant milestone" in a statement, adding that it builds on "progress in scientific evidence" in recent years.Ĭanada imposed a lifetime ban on gay men donating blood to others in the 1980s.
Trudeau said his government spent 5 million Canadian dollars (US $3.9 million €3.7 million) on research into the safety of blood donors and donation rules. He added that the removal of restrictions took too long but that research "simply wasn't done by previous governments." "This should have been done 10 years ago, 15 years ago," Trudeau said at a press conference. Prime Minister Trudeau said it was "good news" but had taken too long. If you choose to donate blood, youll still need to wait 12 months since. Let's talk about sex-ed Canada hails 'good news'