End the Antiquated MSM Blood Ban!

Today Open Left has organized a blogswarm asking readers to take action to revise/end the FDA's ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood. The Health and Human Services Committee on Blood Safety and Availability is deliberating for the third time since the ban has been implemented over whether changes are needed.

Please take a minute to email Dr. Holmberg and the Committee at jerry.holmberg@hhs.gov. Urge a revision of the policy that incorporates sound medical, scientific, and non-discriminatory guidelines.

Here is a letter summarizing the scientific and social reasons for revising the ban for your convenience. Feel free to copy and paste into an e-mail:

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Jerry A. Holmberg, PhD
Executive Secretary
Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability
Office of Public Health and Science
Department of Health and Human Services
1101 Wooton Parkway, Suite 250
Rockville, MD 20852

June 10, 2010

Dear Dr. Holmberg,

I am pleased that the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (ACBSA) is planning to review the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decades-long ban on blood donation by any man who has had sex with another man since 1977. I strongly urge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review its policy prohibiting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood.

The FDA's current blood donor eligibility policies are largely inconsistent, imposing significantly less restrictive deferrals to heterosexual men and women who engage in high-risk sexual behavior, yet banning gay and bisexual men who are HIV-negative, consistently practice safe sex, or are in monogamous, long-term relationships. This policy reinforces inaccurate stereotypes about gay men and HIV, and results in a significant loss of healthy blood donors.

The advent of new HIV testing technologies, which can detect HIV directly and has a window period of only 9-11 days after infection, has provided scientific and technological reasons to reconsider the policy. In the face of chronic blood shortages in the nation's blood supply, the unnecessary exclusion of large numbers of HIV-negative blood donors may harm patients in need of blood transfusions.

I join a growing consensus of voices who have called for reform of the FDA's donor eligibility policy. Many public health experts, the American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks, America's Blood Centers, and others have supported reforming the policy. Additionally, 18 U.S. Senators, as well as U.S. Representatives, have recently sent letters to the FDA calling for the long-standing policy's review and modification.

It is both timely and necessary that an exhaustive review of alternative policies is conducted. I encourage Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FDA to act quickly to address our mutual concern for expanding the blood donor pool and ensuring the safety and adequacy of our nation's blood supply.

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Right to Save Campaign - May 16th

Support the end of government sanctioned discrimination! - Help Change the FDA's current Policy!

The FDA currently has a policy that states “Men who have had sex with other men, at any time since 1977 are currently deferred as blood donors.” This means that a male who has had sex with another male even one time since 1977 is banned for life from donating blood. This policy was written in 1983, Twenty-five years later this policy is not only medically and scientifically unwarranted, it is also discriminatory.

The Right to Save campaign will provide training, assist in building your local coalitions, help design materials to assure a consistent message, work with you on media outreach, and support you as needed throughout this action. To be a local leader, no past experience or resume is required. You just need passion, a willingness to outreach to others, and the dedication to follow-through.

If you would like to organize a city for the national action on May 16th 2009, email meg@righttosave.com or call at 623-262-6696.

End The Blood Ban in the U.K.

U.K. gay rights groups are calling on an end to the discriminatory policy of the National Blood Service in barring gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

The ban should apply to people who engage in risky activity but should not make assumptions based on sexual orientation. As it stands a monogamous gay man is banned, but a high-risk heterosexual has no obstacles in donating blood.

Please contact the NBS and tell them the policy needs to change in order to stop the discriminatory behavior and stigmatization of men who have sex with men, and to ensure that there are more blood donors in an already small pool of people who are willing to donate.

E-contact form for National Blood Service

Compliments & Complaints Form

Phone: 0845 7 711 711