In April 2020, that was shortened to three months.
In 2015, the ban was revised so that a man had to abstain from having sex with another man for a full year to donate blood. The ban started in 1985 - at that time, blood banks had limited abilities to test blood products, and so the FDA banned donations from several groups who were found to have higher rates of HIV, including gay men - and at that time, the ban was for life. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change their current policy on gay men and blood donation, which currently requires men who have sex with men to abstain from sex for three months prior to blood donation. The dire state of blood donations have prompted renewed calls for the U.S. Changing Blood Donations Restrictions for Gay Men Would Increase Blood Supply
Up to 100 units of blood can be required to save a single car accident victim. Blood transfusions are an essential part of treatment for diseases such as sickle cell disease, as well as for many people undergoing cancer treatment. “Please, if you are eligible, make an appointment to give blood or platelets in the days and weeks ahead to ensure no patient is forced to wait for critical care.” Blood Donation Saves LivesĪlthough close to seven million people in the United States donate blood, that’s only about 3 percent of eligible people.Įvery 2 seconds, someone in the United States needs blood or platelets, according to the American Red Cross. “Winter weather across the country and the recent surge of COVID-19 cases are compounding the already-dire situation facing the blood supply,” said Baia Lasky, MD, medical director for the Red Cross, in a release. On January 18, a week after the crisis was declared, the blood supply fell even lower as more than 200 blood drives across the country were cancelled due to winter storms, resulting in nearly 6,500 blood and platelet donations to go uncollected, according to a statement. The omicron surge and winter weather are being blamed for a blood shortage in the United States, causing the American Red Cross to declare a national blood donation crisis for the first time in the organization’s history.