Open AccessBlood Donation and COVID-19: Reconsidering the 3-Month Deferral Policy for Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men
Author(s) -
Chris Park,
Caroline Gellman,
Madeline O’Brien,
Andrew Eidelberg,
Ipsita Subudhi,
Elizabeth F Gorodetsky,
Benjamin Asriel,
Andrew Furlow,
Michael P. Mullen,
Girish N. Nadkarni,
Sulaiman Somani,
Keith Sigel,
David L. Reich
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2020.305974
Subject(s) - deferral , men who have sex with men , medicine , donation , pandemic , family medicine , sexual orientation , homosexuality , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , covid-19 , psychology , political science , social psychology , law , disease , syphilis , accounting , infectious disease (medical specialty) , business , pathology
In April 2020, in light of COVID-19-related blood shortages, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reduced the deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM) from its previous duration of 1 year to 3 months.Although originally born out of necessity, the decades-old restrictions on MSM donors have been mitigated by significant advancements in HIV screening, treatment, and public education. The severity of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-and the urgent need for safe blood products to respond to such crises-demands an immediate reconsideration of the 3-month deferral policy for MSM.We review historical HIV testing and transmission evidence, discuss the ethical ramifications of the current deferral period, and examine the issue of noncompliance with donor deferral rules. We also propose an eligibility screening format that involves an individual risk-based screening protocol and, unlike current FDA guidelines, does not effectively exclude donors on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Our policy proposal would allow historically marginalized community members to participate with dignity in the blood donation process without compromising blood donation and transfusion safety outcomes.