Canada and the U.S. should get on with enacting further changes that would more sensibly reflect the current state of blood testing and scientific knowledge about HIV risk factors
The explanation may seem logical on its face: gay and bisexual men are deemed to be at high risk of having human immunodeficiency virus , a sexually transmissible blood-borne pathogen that can easily taint the blood supply. Regulators are painfully aware of this possibility because the Red Cross’s lack of screening of donors and blood in the early 1980s had devastating consequences. About 2,000 Canadians contracted HIV from blood products, and many more ended up with hepatitis C.
Cohen said he felt hurt when he learned that he could not donate his plasma for COVID-19 therapies. Many sexually active gay and bisexual men have expressed similar sentiments about being shut out of the life-giving act of blood and plasma donation, both pre-pandemic and during the COVID-19 crisis. But this is not a question of feelings. It is one of health and safety, and it must be assessed dispassionately by examining the facts.
Those facts suggest that the status quo of refusing all male donors who have been sexually active with another man in the past three months is not the most effective way to achieve a safe and adequate blood supply. Such donors could be accepted if they are taking PrEP, or if they have not had unprotected sex in the previous two weeks.Article content continued
Now, both countries should get on with enacting further changes that would more sensibly reflect the current state of blood testing and scientific knowledge about HIV risk factors. This would be best practice at any time. But during a pandemic in which plasma therapy seems to play a meaningful role in treating patients who have contracted the virus and blood donations have dipped, it is especially important to shed restrictions that are not necessary for health and safety.
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