Spring Break
Red Cross blood drive guidelines unfair to gay men
Editorial
Issue date: 10/20/04 Section: Commentary
Earlier this month, UConn held its annual blood drive. In accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, people at an increased risk of HIV/AIDS were not allowed to donate. In its Blood Donation Eligibility Guidelines, the Red Cross describes being "a male who has had sex with another male since 1977, even once" as one of the risk factors for infection that makes an individual ineligible to donate blood. This guideline singles out gay men and should be applied to all people who have had unprotected sex.
It is a lifelong restriction and its vague wording does not specify the nature of the sex act. The sexual experiences of gay men vary widely, but the FDA chooses to group all men who have sex with men together and impose harsh restrictions on their ability to donate blood. In contrast, a man who has had unprotected sex with a woman, or a woman has had any sort of unprotected sex, only must wait one year. The same lax ceiling applies to a person who has had unprotected intercourse with a prostitute or an intravenous drug user. This is a slap in the face of all gay men from a usually respectable organization.
An FDA panel agreed to continue to restrict men who have engaged in homosexual activities after reviewing the guideline in 2000 because "they did not have enough scientific evidence" to revise it. Even with the advanced testing implemented in 1999, an FDA officer estimated that two HIV-positive units would be released a year if men were allowed to donate five years after their last homosexual encounter.
The nature of HIV makes a five-year limit too short. After initially manifesting flu-like symptoms, HIV can remain asymptomatic for many years and AIDS usually does not develop for 12 to 13 years. Although the virus is multiplying in the body during this time, the tests the American Red Cross uses to detect it are not 100 percent accurate and they are susceptible to human error. A more cautious waiting period would be 15 years from the at-risk activity - no one should contract HIV from a blood transfusion.
The 15-year period should apply to all people who have had unprotected sex, not just homosexual men. It does not treat everybody equally. The FDA should not limit individuals from donating blood based on who they have had sex with, but on whether or not the sex was protected. It's easy to dismiss the emergency of AIDS if one imagines it is restricted to only one marginalized social group. But the rise of HIV/AIDS infections in homosexual men has slowed and it is time to recognize that AIDS can affect all of us.
It is a lifelong restriction and its vague wording does not specify the nature of the sex act. The sexual experiences of gay men vary widely, but the FDA chooses to group all men who have sex with men together and impose harsh restrictions on their ability to donate blood. In contrast, a man who has had unprotected sex with a woman, or a woman has had any sort of unprotected sex, only must wait one year. The same lax ceiling applies to a person who has had unprotected intercourse with a prostitute or an intravenous drug user. This is a slap in the face of all gay men from a usually respectable organization.
An FDA panel agreed to continue to restrict men who have engaged in homosexual activities after reviewing the guideline in 2000 because "they did not have enough scientific evidence" to revise it. Even with the advanced testing implemented in 1999, an FDA officer estimated that two HIV-positive units would be released a year if men were allowed to donate five years after their last homosexual encounter.
The nature of HIV makes a five-year limit too short. After initially manifesting flu-like symptoms, HIV can remain asymptomatic for many years and AIDS usually does not develop for 12 to 13 years. Although the virus is multiplying in the body during this time, the tests the American Red Cross uses to detect it are not 100 percent accurate and they are susceptible to human error. A more cautious waiting period would be 15 years from the at-risk activity - no one should contract HIV from a blood transfusion.
The 15-year period should apply to all people who have had unprotected sex, not just homosexual men. It does not treat everybody equally. The FDA should not limit individuals from donating blood based on who they have had sex with, but on whether or not the sex was protected. It's easy to dismiss the emergency of AIDS if one imagines it is restricted to only one marginalized social group. But the rise of HIV/AIDS infections in homosexual men has slowed and it is time to recognize that AIDS can affect all of us.