Gay Men Lifetime Ban on Blood Donation

The Gay Men Lifetime Ban on Blood Donating Countries Where The Lifetime Ban Is In Place Algeria Austria Belgium China Croatia Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Hong Kong Iceland Ireland Israel Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Philippines Slovenia Switzerland Turkey United States Venezuela 37 3.6. 6.3. % Of the world population lives in a country that bans gay men Of the male population are homosexuals. Of the healthy population is donating blood Some studies show bigger numbers to donate blood Controversy Reason Against The men who have sex 1. The MSM The window to detect HIV with men (MSM) are not allowed to give blood. In some countries a lifetime ban is in places against all can be as short as three weeks (NAT method), or as long as three months (serology method), so there is no scientific reason for population in developed countries tends to have a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection. MSM. 2. The risk of false negative test results a lifetime ban In favour of lifting the ban The policy started in the 1980s when people didn't know how the deadly virus that causes AIDS spread. At the time, there wasn't a good test to detect whether HIV was present in donated blood "The lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have sex with men is discriminatory and not based on sound science," said AMA board member Dr. William Kobler Blood bank officials say AIDS-detection technology has vastly improved since the 1980s. Back then, tests only checked for antibodies to the virus. Now they check for parts of the virus itself. In 2006 the American Red Cross, the AABB (an international blood association), and America's Blood Centers proposed a one-year deferral period following male-to-male sexual contact (which is the same standard used for people who have high-risk sexual behaviors or have used injection drugs) rather than the current "lifetime ban." In countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa, for instance, gay men are allowed to donate blood if they have abstained from sex with a man for a certain period of time Remember Over 2.7 Billion people live in countries that ban gay man to donate blood Donations are rigorously tested to rule out donors that are infected with known viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C About 48.6 Million gay man are banned to give blood Almost 3.4 Million potential gay man donors are rejected and not allowed to give blood ever in their life The UK lifted its lifetime ban on MSM blood donation in 2011and changed the policy to simply restrict men who have had sex with another man within the previous 12 months. There were no health related consequences Blood Facts The average adult has about 10 pints of blood in his body. Roughly 1 pint is given during a donation 10% The actual blood donation typically takes less than 10-12 minutes. The entire process, from the time you arrive to the time you leave, takes about an hour and 15 min. A healthy donor may donate red blood cells every 56 days, or double red cells every 112 days. Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSM _blood_donor_controversy#List_of_countries_with_their_stand_on MSM_blood_donors http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/blood-facts-and-statistics http://www.donateblood.com.au/about-blood/faq http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/BloodBloodProducts/QuestionsaboutBlood/DonatingBlood/ http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/02/25/fda-blood-donation-ban http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-donation/Pages//Who-can-use-it.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/11/health/gay-blood-drive/ http://www.menshealth.com/banned-for-life/ http://www.banned4life.org/ http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117970 This Infographic Was Created by www.BloodTaker.com