France allows gay men to donate blood, regardless of when they had sex
Twitter, “we are ending an inequality that was no longer justified.”Related: FDA approves injectable form of PrEP given every two monthsViolette Cordaro, head of the LGBTQ center Nosig in Nantes, said the change had partly come about because of the increase in gay men taking PrEP.
This made the previous four-month restrictions nonsensical.“It allows homosexuals who do not take PrEP—a preventive treatment that protects against HIV—to give blood.
While those who do take it, who therefore carry the least risk, cannot give blood,” she said.“In any case, in the LGBT community, many people are taking PrEP today, as there is still no vaccine [against HIV].”People who have been diagnosed with a chronic illness, including HIV or Hepatitis C, can still not donate blood.In the United States, men can only donate blood if they have not had sex with another man in the previous 90 days.Earlier this year, LGBTQ advocates, health experts, and more than two dozen members of Congress wrote an open letter calling on the Food and Drug Administration to end the “discriminatory” practice.The call came after the Red Cross said the Covid-19 pandemic had led to the biggest shortage in blood donations in over a decade.“Any policy that continues to categorically single out the LGBTQ+ community is discriminatory and wrong.
Given advances in blood screening and safety technology, a time-based policy for gay and bisexual men is not scientifically sound, continues to effectively exclude an entire group of people, and does not meet the urgent demands of the moment,” the group wrote.Jay Franzone, an LGBTQ Advocate who has worked to end the gay blood ban, told Queerty he welcomed the news from France.“France is joining the ranks of Spain, Argentina,.
