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U.S. News

California: Ammiano Calls for End to Blood Donor Ban

From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

April 16, 2009

On April 2, California Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced a resolution that calls on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end its ban on blood donations by men who have had sex with men.

The nonbinding US Blood Donor Nondiscriminatory Resolution asks the secretary of Health and Human Services, who oversees FDA, to repeal the current guidelines. It further asks President Obama to publicly back the change. Equality California is sponsoring the resolution.

FDA's policy dates back to 1983. Among other restrictions, it disallows blood donations by any man who has had sex with another man since 1977.

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"Blood has no sexual orientation, and the FDA should have no discrimination," Ammiano said in a statement.

"This policy is not discriminatory but risk-based," responded Susan M. Cruzan, a public-affairs specialist at FDA. "Men who have had sex with other men since 1977 have a higher prevalence for HIV than the general population, and it is much higher than first time blood donors." The FDA system, she said, includes donor screening as well as blood testing because "errors that can result in failures to identify donors or prevent transfusion of unsuitable blood can and do still occur, despite extremely sensitive testing and continuing quality improvements."

Back to other news for April 2009

Adapted from:
Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco)
04.09.2009; Cynthia Laird

  
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This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.
 
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