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New Era of Donor Eligibility

Community Blood Center is welcoming new individual risk assessment questions for determining blood donor eligibility recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is in the process of implementing the changes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formally announced its decision to implement gender-inclusive, individual assessment of all blood donors to reduce the risk of HIV in the blood supply.

The new guidelines ease decades-old restrictions that made it challenging for gay and bisexual men to donate blood.
CBC agrees that an individual risk assessment of all donors will maintain the safety of the blood supply, make blood donation more inclusive, ensure all donors are treated equally and enable more people the opportunity to donate blood.

The safety of the blood supply is CBC's top priority. All blood donations undergo more than a dozen tests to ensure donations are safe for patients, including HIV, Hepatitis B and C, West Nile and other infectious diseases.

A Closer Look at What is Changing

Implementing an individual risk assessment of all blood donors means eliminating restrictions that make it challenging for gay and bisexual men to donate blood.

Current FDA Policy

The change in donor eligibility is centered on the FDA's policy known as Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM). The policy has been in place since the mid-1980's and has evolved over the years. Currently, the MSM policy requires gay and bisexual men to wait three months following their last sexual contact with another man to donate blood.

New FDA Policy

The new FDA policy will eliminate the time-based restriction of three months and instead screen all potential donors equally, using a series of questions that will assess their individual risk of HIV, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

https://www.fda.gov/media/164829/download

History of FDA's MSM Policy

  • MSM policy was established in the 1980's during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Men who had sex with men were banned from donating blood when those restrictions were put in place.  The lifetime ban remained for more than two decades.
  • In 2015 the FDA updated the policy and moved to a one-year deferral period. This meant any man who had sex with another man would have to wait one year following their last sexual contact with another man before they could donate blood.
  • In 2020, the FDA implemented the three-month deferral period, requiring men who have sex with men to wait three months following their last sexual contact with another man before they can donate blood.
  • The new FDA policy will eliminate the time-based restriction of three months and instead screen all potential donors equally, using a series of questions that will assess their individual risk of HIV, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-finalizes-move-recommend-individual-risk-assessment-determine-eligibility-blood-donations

https://www.fda.gov/media/164829/download