FDA recommends allowing gay men to donate blood

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has officially endorsed the removal of a lifetime ban that forbids gay men from donating blood. The ban has been in place since 1985, when HIV tests took longer to complete. Current HIV tests can detect the virus in just nine days, and many people believe the ban is discriminatory.

The FDA published a set of draft guidelines, including the recommendation on lifting the ban, on Tuesday. By the new proposal, men would need to wait at least a year after having sexual intercourse with other men before donating blood. The FDA cited other countries, including the U.K., Sweden, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Hungary, that have one-year deferral policies in place.

According to data from the Williams Institute, a one-year deferral policy, rather than a lifetime ban, could increase the amount of blood likely to be donated by 317,000 pints a year.

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