Several experts are of the opinion that blood donation guidelines should be modified for gay men in order to meet the shortage of blood across the US due to the pandemic. The ongoing pandemic has caused several hospitalizations, and there is a shortage of blood in hospitals all over the country. Considering this situation, health experts are of the opinion that the discriminatory practice against gay men with regards to blood donation should be stopped at this stage.
Pressure Mounts To Ease Donor Rules For Gay Men
It is interesting to note that gay men have to abstain from sex with other men for about three months before they become eligible to donate blood. The requirement was ridiculous 12-month abstinence earlier, which was reduced to three months in April 2020. The changes were made as the country was struggling to meet the demand for blood in hospitals during the early stage of the pandemic.
Several lawmakers argued at that time, and the FDA had to revise the guidelines in 2020. However, even the three-month abstinence is not needed, according to many experts, and they feel that this should be stopped to meet the blood shortage across the country.
Before the pandemic emerged, many voluntary donors filled the gap, and there was no shortage of blood at hospitals. However, after the arrival of Covid, many voluntary donors are not willing to go to hospitals to donate blood. They are afraid of contracting the infection and want to stay safe during the pandemic.
Due to this reason, there is an acute shortage of blood at various hospitals in the US. A recent announcement by Red Cross said that the shortage of blood in the US is at its worst in the last decade. Several advocates and lawmakers want to utilize this situation to bring in changes to the law with regards to gay men donating blood.
Surprisingly, more than a dozen members of Congress have supported the lawmakers and joined hands with the LGBTQ community to avoid the discriminatory practice. Several advanced methods are available now to screen blood before using it for donation; it is not a good idea to single out gay and bisexual men.
As the science for HIV testing is at an advanced level, it is ridiculous that the country is still practicing the age-old three-month waiting period. The main thing that prompts the FDA to follow the three-month wait period is that they consider gay and bisexual men as those with high risk for catching HIV. In this regard, they are worried that such donors can infect other people as HIV cannot be traced effectively for about one or two weeks in the tests.
Scientists say that a person can still test negative for HIV after getting infected for about two weeks. Due to this reason, a waiting time of about two weeks is needed for high-risk people like gay and bisexual men. This will help the doctors to get accurate reports with regards to HIV infection. However, it should not be three months, as suggested by the FDA.
Many experts suggest that the FDA can temporarily relax the rules to meet the shortage of blood across the country. They argue that this can increase the supply by nearly 4% across the country. In this way, the supply shortage can be met to some extent. However, the FDA is not willing to take such steps as they fear that reversing the guidelines in the future will be difficult if they relax them during the pandemic. It is interesting to see the support this argument gathers from other lawmakers in the country.
