Panel recommends ending ban on gay blood donors

A panel that advises the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) is recommending the agency reverse a longstanding ban on accepting blood donations from gay men.

The HHS Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favor of allowing gay men who have not had sex in more than a year to donate blood.

{mosads}Gay men have been prohibited from donating blood since the early 1980s at the beginning of the AIDS crisis, because of fears that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) could be spread through blood transfusions.

But the growing need for blood donations outweighs the risks, critics of the HHS’s policy say. The American Red Cross and gay-rights groups have been advocating for overturning the ban.

“The system, in my mind, has been very successful, in part, I believe, because the public has trust in the system and the decisions we make,” Jay Menitove, chairman of the advisory panel, said at the meeting, according to Bloomberg. “To maintain that trust and compliance on the part of the public, it is time to modernize.”

The same advisory panel turned down an opportunity to reverse the ban in 2010, but now says more evidence has been made available, which would support a change in policy.

Countries like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom already have policies in place allowing gay men to donate blood.