As Blood Shortage Deepens, Time to Accept the Evidence–End Deferral Period for Gay and Bisexual Blood Donors
In mid‐January, twenty‐two Democratic U.S. Senators sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Janet Woodcock, urging the FDA to abandon its policy of requiring sexual abstinence by gay and bisexual men for at least three months before they can donate blood. A separate letter to the Secretary and Acting Commissioner, signed by four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives was sent the same day. Earlier this week Utah State Senator Derek Kitchen (D‑Salt Lake City) introduced SJR11, a joint resolution that, if passed by the Utah legislature, would call on the FDA to change its “outdated and discriminatory protocols” for gay and bisexual men who wish to donate blood.
In early January the American Red Cross declared a national “blood crisis:”
The Red Cross has experienced a 10% decline in the number of people donating blood since the beginning of the pandemic and continues to confront relentless issues due to the pandemic, including ongoing blood drive cancellations and staffing limitations. Adding to the concern is the surge of COVID-19 cases. The Red Cross has experienced low donor turnout ever since the delta variant began spreading in August, and that trend continues as the Omicron variant takes over.
All types are needed now, especially types O positive and O negative, as well as platelet donations, to help reverse this national blood crisis. If there is not an immediate opportunity available to donate, donors are asked to make an appointment in the days and weeks ahead to ensure the Red Cross can replenish and maintain a sufficient blood supply.
As I have written before, “there is no scientific reason to justify, for any length of time, deferring gay men from donating blood. The deferral is rooted in antiquated fears and politics.”
The FDA lifted its ban on blood donations from gay or bisexual men, imposed in 1985, and replaced it with a one‐year abstinence requirement in 2015. In April 2020 it shortened the requirement to 3 months in response to the developing shortage of blood and blood products.
The abstinence requirements are vestiges of outdated fears about AIDS that arose in the 1980s. But as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states, all donated blood and blood products are tested for HIV, hepatitis, and other blood‐borne pathogens. In 2013 the American Medical Association called on the FDA to end the ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. And in April 2021, the American Red Cross called on the FDA to end the three‐month deferral.
On February 25, 142 members of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote newly confirmed FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, urging him to end the deferral policy. Dr. Califf was a professor and clinical researcher at Duke University School of Medicine. Hopefully, his background in evidence‐based medicine means he will accede to their wishes.