An advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has narrowly voted to maintain the ban on blood donations from homosexual men. The vote was 7-6 to maintain the ban. Under the FDA's rules, men cannot give blood if they have had sex with another man at least once since 1977.
The FDA was considering changing the blood donation rule to ban only men who had had sex with another man within the past five years. The rule came into force originally in 1985 to protect the blood supply from HIV.
Critics claim that the ban is discriminatory and outdated, as other high risk groups such as prostitutes, intravenous drug users, and promiscuous heterosexuals are deferred from donation only one year from their last high risk encounter.
Moreover, more sensitive HIV screening tests are used now than when the rule was initially formulated. Since blood and blood products are in short supply, many favour lifting the ban. An estimated 62300 homosexual men would donate blood if the ban were lifted, according to the FDA. About 8% of the US male homosexual population is HIV positive.
The issue has polarised the nation's blood banks, with half supporting easing the policy even more—to one year instead of five—and the other half, including the American Red Cross, opposing any change.
Even with the current restrictions, blood screening is imperfect. Of 12 million units of donated blood each year, 10 HIV infected units slip through, accounting for two to three cases of donor transmitted HIV infections a year. (See p 772, Medicine and Media.) 