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Homophobia or health protection

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by silas99, Dec 12, 2008.

  1. silas99

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    So today I went to go give blood, having passed the numerous tests and jumped through sufficient hoops. Luckily I'm not an IV drug user, or a commercial sex worker (prostitute), or a man who has sex with men...so I was drained of my pint of blood. I'm not sure if there is a thread on this already, but I thought I'd see what people's thoughts on this are.

    In essence any man who has ever had sex with another man is banned from giving blood in the UK. It is known that the rates of STDs (including HIV and HEP B+C) are higher in gay men than any other sub-group in the population. There are enough blood donors without the inclusion of gay men, and the National blood service claims that it wants to eliminate high risk groups to ensure the safety of the blood products. They state they are not homophobic as they allow gay women and gay men (who have never had sex) to donate.

    So what do people think? Is this blatent discrimination or are they justified in the exclusion of sexually active gay men?

    http://www.blood.co.uk/pdfdocs/position_statement_exclusion.pdf
     
  2. Mickey

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    I thought that all blood was checked BEFORE they give it to someone? All these things would show up in a blood screening. If I'm right with this,I would have to agree,it's homophobic.
     
  3. Adam

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    When I would go in to donate plasma, one of the questions they always ask if you have ever had sex with a man.
     
  4. Dazed

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    when i gave blood one of the questions was " in the last 6 months have you had sexual relations with a man who has been with a man" i swaer to god i laughed so hard the nurse thought i had lost my mind. i mean is there a need for a question like that
     
  5. crystaltriforce

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    they do. that is blatant homophobia and they have no right to deny blood from gay guys.:tantrum::***:
     
  6. ColdSnap

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    i honestly think they are concerned that blood donated from gay people may affect the recipients, why else would it be that in the UK that if you are a man and have protected sex with a woman who is HIV positive you have to wait 6 months before you give blood, but if you are a man who has had protected oral sex with another man you can NEVER give blood? NOT COOL
     
  7. Wander

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    Just what I was thinking.
     
  8. starfish

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    Please keep in mind that in the United States this is not because of the blood banks. FDA regulations require deferring any male blood donor that has had sex with another man since 1977.

    Here is the information on the FDA site. http://www.fda.gov/CbER/faq/msmdonor.htm

    I read quite about about this last year and there is a lot of debate on the subject. I remember reading that several blood banks disagree with the policy and think the risk is not longer as high as the FDA states it to be.

    The FDA regulations tend to be overly cautious with the bloody supply. I have a friend that can no longer donate blood. There a two tests they do for HIV. The first test give a lot of false positives. If the first test returns positive they run a second more accurate test. My friend's blood had the first test come back as positive and the second as negative, but because the first test returned positive he can no longer donate blood.
     
    #8 starfish, Dec 12, 2008
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2008
  9. Steve

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    just tell them ... when the person ho needs the blood dies .. dont come complaining back to , oh and tell his/her parents why exaclty thier son daugther didnt get the blood they needed to
     
  10. TheRoof

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    i think it does make sense in a way, u know, just as a precaution.
    i don't think its a homophobia, it's just that statistically gay men are
    more likely to give diseases than other people
     
  11. summersforecast

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    JRNY the main points above state that the blood must be checked before its given to anyone anyways so even if a gay man gave blood that had deseases it would be dumpted in other words there's no point in asking if they've had sex with a man.
     
  12. Nitro

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    A little something from Canadian Blood Services:
    The reason why MSM are excluded sadly becomes clear when one considers that the HIV infection rates for gay and bisexual men in Canada is, depending on the area, about 40 to 50 times the national average. What hasn't been explained is why the C.B.S. and other such organizations don't consider the window period in the questionnaire. If you had sex with a man in say 1977, the virus, if present, should be detectable by now </understatement>.

    EDIT: for those states side of the border a (not so nice) stat from the FDA "Men who have had sex with men since 1977 have an HIV prevalence ... 60 times higher than the general population"
     
    #12 Nitro, Dec 14, 2008
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2008
  13. excuseyou77

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