Source: IE
Context: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ended the longstanding restrictions on gay and bisexual men from donating blood.
Background:
The prohibition was first implemented during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and has been long decried as discriminatory by the LGBTQI+ community and its supporters.
New guidelines:
- Donors have to answer a questionnaire and they will be screened based on their recent sexual activity rather than their sexual orientation or sex.
- Have done away with the three-month deferral period for monogamous MSM, but it stays in place for those who have had new or multiple partners in the past three months.
Benefit: The new changes have been introduced to boost blood donations across the US and address the discriminatory nature of the existing policy.
India: Transgenders, gay people, and female sex workers aren’t allowed to donate blood. This is according to clauses 12 and 51 of the ‘Guidelines for Blood Donor Selection & Blood Donor Referral, 2017’ issued by the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) and the National Aids Control Organisation on October 11, 2017.
Reason for ban: Government argues that there is substantial evidence to show that LGBTQ is at risk for HIV, Hepatitis B or C infections.
