On June 18, 2013 at its annual meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to adopt a policy opposing the thirty year lifetime ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). This recommendation was made to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), the governing body that oversees issues the policy.

The ban was implemented thirty years ago before tests were available to screen for HIV or AIDS. The AMA holds the position now that the lifetime ban on blood donation from MSM is discriminatory since there are adequate methods to screen donated blood for HIV and AIDS. The American Medical Association (AMA) also noted its’ support for the “use of rational scientifically based deferral periods that are fairly and consistently apply to blood donors.”  One of example of such a guideline is the 12-month waiting period for individuals who have had sexual contact with someone who is HIV-positive.

In June 2010 the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability reconsidered the lifetime ban. While admitting that there were problems with the ban, they voted against lifting it. The Red Cross, the largest blood collection organization in the country, supported a lift on the ban in 2010 as well as presently.

If in the future the Federal Drug Administration decides to lift the ban they will follow a number of other countries who have done the same. In May of this year Canada lifted its lifetime ban on blood donations from MSM. However the new policy requires that MSM who wish to donate blood abstain from sexual contact with men for five years prior to the blood donation.

Other countries that have recently changed policies so that MSM may donate blood include the United Kingdom and Australia. Both of these countries require a 12 month period of abstinence. South Africa also recently lifted their ban on blood donation for MSM. However the period of abstinence is 6 months.

In recent years, several other countries have amended their blood donation policies to allow gay men to give blood, many of which use a smaller window of deferral for sexually active gay men than Canada has adopted. Both Australia and the U.K., for example, allow gay men who have abstained from sex with another man for one year to donate, while South Africa requires only a six-month period.