Blood donations have dropped due to the coronavirus epidemic. Dropping the ban against gay and bi men could produce 300,000 pints of blood annually, potentially saving a million lives.
Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia have signed a letter on Wednesday urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to end the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ban against blood donations from men who have sex with men.
"In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, blood drives and donations have dropped significantly," the letter reads."As of mid-March, over 4,000 blood drives have been canceled across the country due to coronavirus concerns and closures of schools and workplaces where these drives are usually held, resulting in over 100,000 fewer blood donations."
However, the reduction in blood donations during the coronavirus epidemic has lead the organization to carry less than five days' worth of blood in its reserves. As a result, the American Red Cross has started having to choose which hospitals receive blood and which ones don't. Citing a 2014 study from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law Williams Institute, the letter says that getting rid of the donor prohibitions against gay and bi men would"produce over 2 million additional each eligible blood donors, including nearly 175,000 likely blood donors, and would produce nearly 300,000 pints of additional donated blood annually," potentially saving the lives of more than a million people.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Blood-pressure drugs are in the crosshairs of COVID-19 researchScientists are baffled by how the coronavirus attacks the body - killing many patients while barely affecting others.
Read more »
Doctors try to untangle why they're seeing 'unprecedented' blood clotting among Covid-19 patientsDoctors are finding that some patients infected with the novel coronavirus have a propensity towards developing blood clots, which can be life-threatening if the clot travels to the heart or lungs
Read more »
Local COVID-19 Survivors Hope Blood Donation Will Let Patients 'Borrow Their Immunity'Hospitals, clinics and blood banks are increasingly asking COVID survivors to consider donating their blood, in hopes of drawing out the antibodies and putting them to work in other people's bodies. wamu885
Read more »
Missouri Becomes First U.S. State To Sue China For Lying, Not Doing Enough About COVID-19But legal experts say efforts to hold China accountable for the coronavirus in U.S. courts are likely to be unsuccessful.
Read more »
Missouri sues Chinese government over Covid-19 impact in the stateIn what could be the first lawsuit filed by a state against China over Covid-19, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government over the loss of life and economic consequences of coronavirus.
Read more »
At least 474 more confirmed COVID-19 deaths in New York stateMore than 470 New York state residents were reported dead from COVID-19 in the past day, officials say, bringing the state's death toll beyond 15,000.
Read more »