The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) is seeking comments on designing a pilot program to create “alternative donor deferral criteria” for gay men. Currently, men who have had sex with other men (MSM) since 1977 cannot donate blood due to “higher levels of certain transfusion-transmissible infections” among that population, the notice explains. Members of Congress’s interest and increased accuracy among donor testing have made the department reconsider the ban. “[T]he increased effectiveness of donor testing for [Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)], [Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)], syphilis and other infectious agents has greatly enhanced blood safety,” the department states in the notice, which will be published in the Federal Register Tuesday. “As a result, questions have been raised about the need to continue an indefinite deferral of all MSM and whether there could be blood donation by MSM who may not be at increased risk.” Source - http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch...s-blood-donors First, please read the entire article, especially the comments at the bottom. It gives you a hint of what kind of political opposition this will face from the far-right conservatives. Also, considering that women can be just as "at risk" for HIV/STD, is it fair that the HHS put a moratorium on just male donors who are involved in MSM?
