US Introduces Inclusive Blood Donation Guidelines

The United States has implemented changes to blood donation guidelines, allowing for more gay and bisexual men to give with fewer restrictions.

In guidelines finalised on Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can now donate blood in the US without having to refrain from sex.

“This policy eliminates time-based deferrals and screening questions specific to men who have sex with men (MSM),” writes the FDA.

Relaxing Decades-Old Restrictions

These changes relax decades-old restrictions that were initially designed to protect blood supplies from HIV, removing the requirement for a generalised population of “MSM” to abstain from sex for a three-month period before donating.

Instead, the updated guidelines now ask all prospective donors – regardless of gender, orientation, or background – screening questions aimed at evaluating individual risk factors for HIV based on medical history, sexual activity, and other factors.

“Under the final guidance issued today, all prospective blood donors will answer a series of individual, risk-based questions to determine eligibility,” the FDA writes.

“All prospective donors who report having a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner in the past three months, and anal sex in the past three months, would be deferred to reduce the likelihood of donations by individuals with new or recent HIV infection”.

Australia Urged To Follow

Australian gay blood donation campaigners have welcomed this decision from the FDA, urging governing bodies in Australia to follow suit.

They point out that organisations such as the Red Cross Lifeblood Service currently have “no plans to allow safe gay men to donate whole blood, despite individual risk assessment being the approach in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, and many other countries”.

“Allowing blood donations from gay and bisexual men, and trans women who have sex with men, who are safe to give, will mean a new source of safe blood for those Australians in need,” says Let Us Give spokesperson Thomas Buxereau.

The Best Available Evidence

Dr. Sharon Dane, a researcher for LGBTQ+ inclusion, additionally points towards an international body of research that promotes an individualised approach, showing “no meaningful risk for gay and bisexual men, and trans women who have sex with men, to give blood”.

It is this body of research and the evidence it provides that the FDA has based its updated guidelines on, described by the federal body as “the best available scientific evidence” while also ”potentially expanding the number of people eligible to donate blood, [and] maintaining the appropriate safeguards to protect the safety of the blood supply”.