It's been a tough battle for the LGBT community who's been trying to change what is one of the most controversial health-related policies in the country: blood donation.
For a few decades, gay and bisexual men were not allowed to donate blood especially if they've been engaged with man-to-man sex even once. This was supposed to meant to prevent AIDS and HIV, which were quite common within this community.
However, within the same length of time, we've learned more about these infectious diseases. This then compelled the community to fight against the ban and push the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to amend its policy.
Now the FDA is now allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood, which can help augment the dwindling blood supply and save more lives. According to their released statement, the FDA's change in policy came after they have looked into the mounting data and other related studies over the years. Moreover, the said modifications will not be in line with those imposed of heterosexual men and women, as well as those who worked in the sex industry, which are considered to be high risk.
However, there's a catch: those who wish to donate should do so only after a year of their last sexual contact. This simply means that they have to abstain for a period of 12 months.
This encouraged concerned organizations and health experts to suggest that the FDA continue to review its policy.
According to the current CEO of Chicago's AIDS Foundation John Peller, while the new policy is a "step toward the right direction," it's still not enough and that there's still a difference in treatment between heterosexual and gay men.
Meanwhile, health experts believe that the one-year abstinence is too much, especially since HIV, which leads to AIDS and is infectious, doesn't take 12 months to be diagnosed. In fact, some tests can already confirm it in a few weeks.
