Washington: The U.S. is shifting to additional ease restrictions on blood donations from homosexual and bisexual males and different teams that sometimes face greater dangers of HIV.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday introduced draft pointers that might put off the present three-month abstinence requirement for donations from males who’ve intercourse with males. Instead, all potential donors can be screened with a brand new questionnaire that evaluates their particular person dangers for HIV primarily based on sexual habits, current companions, and different components.

If finalized, many homosexual and bisexual males in monogamous relationships would be capable to donate blood for the primary time in a long time. It’s the newest transfer by the FDA to broaden donor eligibility, with the potential to spice up donations.

“We feel confident that the safety of the blood supply will be maintained,” FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks advised reporters.

Gay rights teams have lengthy opposed blanket restrictions on who can provide blood, saying they discriminate in opposition to the LGBTQ group. Medical societies together with the American Medical Association have additionally mentioned such exclusions are pointless given advances in know-how to check blood for infectious illnesses.

“Current and former blood donation policies made unfounded assumptions about gay and bisexual men and really entangled individuals’ identity with their likelihood of having HIV,” mentioned Sarah Warbelow of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group.

The U.S. and lots of different international locations began blocking blood donations from homosexual and bisexual males throughout the early 1980’s AIDS epidemic, aiming to stop the unfold of HIV by way of the blood provide.

In 2015, the FDA dropped the lifetime ban and changed it with a one-year abstinence requirement. Then in 2020, the company shortened the abstinence interval to a few months, after donations plummeted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regulators mentioned there was no adverse influence on the blood provide as a outcomes of these adjustments.

The FDA units necessities and procedures for blood banks all through the U.S. All potential donors reply questions on their sexual historical past, injectable drug use and any current tattoos or piercing, amongst different components that may contribute to the unfold of blood-borne infections. Donated blood is then examined for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and different infectious illnesses.

Under the brand new proposal, males who’ve intercourse with males shall be requested if they’ve had new or a number of companions within the final three months. Those who reply affirmatively to both query and in addition report having anal intercourse can be barred from donating till a later date. The coverage would additionally apply to girls who’ve intercourse with homosexual or bisexual males.

Anyone who has ever examined optimistic for HIV would proceed to be ineligible to donate blood. Those taking drugs to stop HIV by way of sexual contact would additionally nonetheless be barred, till three months after their final dose. The FDA famous that the remedy, often known as PrEP, can delay the detection of the virus in screening exams.

Marks mentioned the company is keen to think about additional easing restrictions “but we have to have the science to do that.” FDA regulators will take public feedback on the proposal for 60 days earlier than starting to finalize the rules. The proposed coverage mirrors these utilized in Canada and the U.Ok.

LGBTQ teams welcomed the FDA’s announcement however mentioned the proposal shouldn’t exclude individuals utilizing PrEP drugs.

“We must be conscious to not further stigmatize these safe sex practices and uplift individuals taking precautions,” mentioned Jose Abrigo of Lambda Legal, which has lengthy pushed to vary the FDA coverage.

The FDA primarily based its newest proposal, partly, on a current examine of 1,600 homosexual and bisexual males. The FDA-funded analysis in contrast the effectiveness of an in depth, customized questionnaire on sexual habits to the present time-based abstinence guidelines.

It will take a number of months for blood banks to make the adjustments, in keeping with Cliff Numark, an govt with Vitalant, a blood middle that participated within the examine. The adjustments would require new questionnaires, coaching for employees and updating pc software program.

The Red Cross mentioned it helps the FDA adjustments however added that it is too early to know if they’ll lead to extra blood donations.

Lukas Pietrzak of Washington D.C., mentioned he eagerly volunteered for the FDA examine. He credit emergency blood transfusions with saving his father’s life after a biking accident in 1991. Pietrzak donated blood in highschool however grew to become ineligible after turning into sexually lively as a homosexual man.

“Until I fully came out to my friends, I had to skirt around why I never went to blood drives with them,” says Pietrzak, 26, who now works for the federal authorities.

When there are requires blood donations “now we’re able to be part of that,” Pietrzak mentioned. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely answerable for all content material.