(Image: nursingclio.org)
A provider of donated blood supply to most hospitals across the region is ready to welcome some special new donors.
Bloodworks Northwest announced it has a new screening process for every donor and can now welcome blood donations from more gay and bisexual men after decades of stigmatizing restrictions that have prevented men who have sex with men from participating.
Under the changes, Bloodworks says its processes will change for everyone. Bloodworks Northwest says it is now asking all potential donors to answer the same set of health history questions “assessing their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.”
“Questions regarding sexual history, previously targeted to MSM, will now apply to all donors,” the organization said.
In its announcement, Bloodworks Northwest said it has long supported changing the policy “regarding blood donation by MSM to a more equitable process and increasing the pool of eligible donors.”
The organization’s acceptance criteria will now focus “on sexual contact associated with a higher risk of disease transmission.”
“Anyone who has had sexual contact with a new partner or more than one partner, along with having had anal sex in the past three months, is at increased risk for transmitting HIV and other infectious diseases and will be deferred for three months,” Bloodworks said in its announcement.
Change has taken years. Earlier in 2023, CHS reported on the updated FDA guidelines that focus on behavior and not sexual orientation.
The FDA’s initial ban on blood donation for men who have sex with men began during the 1980s AIDS crisis when the window for detecting HIV from infection to detection took several weeks. When the ban was lifted in 2015 and replaced with the 12-month deferral period, men in same-sex relationships had to abstain from sex for a year before donating blood. Men with multiple female partners were allowed to donate without a deferral period.
There will still be bias in the process. Bloodworks Northwest says under the current guidance from the FDA, “those taking preventative HIV medications (such as PrEP or PEP) are still deferred for three months from their most recent oral use.”
“Available data suggests that the use of PrEP or PEP may delay the detection of low levels of HIV in screening tests for blood donations, potentially resulting in false negative results in infected individuals,” the organization said. “The risks must be carefully evaluated and approved by the FDA before this deferral can be lifted.”
Bloodworks said “many Washington and Oregon businesses” have spoken out to show support for the change including the Seattle-based advertising and marketing agency GreenRubino, which is conducting a blood drive and center takeover on December 6 at the Central Donor Center to mark the important change.
For information on medication deferrals and other eligibility requirements, visit bloodworksnw.org/eligibility.
HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
