Blood Donation Policy Changes

Memo

To: Mark Skinner, President of the World Federation of Hemophilia

From: Mike Quigley, Illinois Democrat

Date: November 16, 2010

Subject: Blood Donation Policy Changes

Why are millions of healthy donors being turned away when the American Red Cross says every two seconds a person needs a blood transfusion? The answer is because they are gay.

In response to the AIDS crisis of the 1980's, the Food and Drug Administration banned for life a man who has had sex with a man- even once - from donating blood. HIV and AIDS do not only affect homosexual men. It also affects heterosexual men and women and homosexual women. However, a heterosexual man or a woman having sex with an HIV-positive partner is restricted from giving blood for one year from that contact.

As you stated, the blood donor deferral criteria must put recipient safety first. Thus, to determine the best screening policies to help make our blood supply even safer for all who depend on it, the blood donor deferral should be based on science rather than the past. Therefore, today a better understanding of the disease and significant innovations in blood screening technology make the fear of HIV/AIDS spreading through the blood supply nearly absent.

The current policy needs to change as our knowledge and medical capabilities regarding AIDS and HIV have evolved. Hence, below are couple options to identify all healthy donors, including gay, straight men and women:

1. Perform a rapid HIV test on-site

2. Ask they provide recent documentation that they are negative for HIV, AIDS and other diseases

Please, write to the FDA to ensure the blood donated is clean by testing everyone for HIV, AIDS and other diseases. Finally, by allowing healthy homosexual men who test negative for HIV and AIDS to donate, more lives can be saved.

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