WASHINGTON — Gay and bisexual males in monogamous relationships can donate blood within the U.S. with out abstaining from intercourse, beneath a federal coverage finalized Thursday by well being regulators.

The Food and Drug Administration tips ease decades-old restrictions designed to guard the blood provide from HIV. The company introduced plans for the change in January and stated this week the brand new strategy can now be applied by blood banks.

The up to date tips get rid of a requirement that males who've intercourse with males abstain from intercourse for 3 months previous to giving blood.

Instead, all potential donors – no matter sexual orientation, intercourse or gender – shall be screened with a brand new questionnaire that evaluates their particular person dangers for HIV based mostly on sexual conduct, latest companions and different elements. Potential donors who report having anal intercourse with new companions within the final three months shall be barred from giving till a later date.

The FDA stated the brand new coverage displays the newest scientific proof and is in step with guidelines within the U.Okay. and Canada.

It’s the newest transfer by the FDA to broaden donor eligibility, with the potential to spice up donations.

“The implementation of these recommendations will represent a significant milestone for the agency and the LGBTQI+ community,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA‘s heart for organic therapies, stated in an announcement.

Gay rights teams have lengthy opposed blanket restrictions on who may give blood, saying they discriminate. Medical societies together with the American Medical Association have additionally stated such exclusions are pointless given advances in blood testing.

Anyone who has ever examined optimistic for HIV will proceed to be ineligible to donate blood. Those taking capsules to forestall HIV via sexual contact will even nonetheless be barred, till three months after their final dose. The FDA famous that the drugs, generally known as PrEP, can delay the detection of the virus in screening assessments.

The FDA units necessities and procedures for U.S. blood banks. All potential donors reply questions on their sexual historical past, injectable drug use and any latest tattoos or piercings, amongst different elements that may contribute to the unfold of blood-borne infections. Donated blood is then examined for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and different infectious ailments.

In 2015, the FDA dropped the lifetime ban on donations from males who've intercourse with males and changed it with a one-year abstinence requirement. Then in 2020, the company shortened the abstinence interval to 3 months, after donations plummeted in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regulators stated there was no damaging impression on the blood provide on account of these adjustments.

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