The FDA says its decision is based on the most current scientific data available. "If a policy follows the facts and the data and the science strictly, then we would have a policy that screened blood for HIV risk, not ruling out a particular set of people,” Louie says. Louie says the new FDA instructions paint gay and bisexual men with a broad brush that promotes stigma and fear. “I wish I could be happier than I am because the deferral policy is in practice the same as a lifetime ban," said Kelsey Louie of Gay Men’s Health Crisis. However, advocacy groups like Gay Men’s Health Crisis were hoping the deferrals would be dropped altogether.
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Kessler says New York Blood Center has long advocated for a change to the ban, implemented nearly 3 decades ago at the height of the aids crisis. “If you look at the CDC website where they do track and trend new infections with HIV, men who have sex with men still represent the highest risk of new infections," Kessler says. The center is welcoming new FDA guidelines that replace a lifetime ban on donations from gay men, with a one year deferral that would only reject gay men who have had sex in the prior 12 months. “We think that it will help," said Debra Kessler of the New York Blood Center. NY1’s Lori Chung filed the following report.
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However, one restriction will remain in place, and that is not sitting well with some gay rights advocates. After nearly 30 years, the FDA is changing its rules on blood donations by gay men.