The Blood Bank of Hawaii is supporting an end to the lifetime ban on donations from gay and bisexual men.
The private, nonprofit organization is awaiting draft guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which announced late last year that it will end its blanket ban on donations from gay men.
The new FDA policy still bars donations from gay men who have been sexually active in the past year.
"We certainly support the change. We feel it’s much more consistent with current medical and scientific knowledge," said Blood Bank of Hawaii medical director Dr. Randal Covin.
The FDA implemented the lifetime ban for gay men in 1983, when health officials first recognized the risk of contracting AIDS via blood transfusions. The current policy prohibits blood donations from a man who has had sexual contact with another man even once since 1977 — the start of the AIDS epidemic in the United States.
The change is a step in the right direction for human rights, said Jack Law, a founding board member of the Life Foundation, a Hawaii nonprofit established in 1983 to help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.
"Any decisions like this should be based on science and not on somebody’s prejudice. It’s a very good step for equality, but it’s got to be based not on what is politically correct, but what is scientifically correct," said Law, who is also the operator of Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand in Waikiki.
Once the FDA releases draft guidelines for blood donations from gay men, there will be a public comment period, and at some point final guidelines will be issued.
The Blood Bank of Hawaii will then need time to modify its policies and procedures and possibly get pre-approval from the FDA before changes can be made, Covin said.
"I suspect there would be a lot of public comment," he said.
Covin supports the ban on donations from men who have had gay sex in the past year.
"The (one-year) deferral is for a particular behavior, not a lifestyle," he said.
It is not mandatory that donation centers follow the loosened restrictions by the FDA. Blood banks can be more strict than FDA guidelines but not less strict, according to Covin.
All U.S. blood donations are screened for HIV, but the test detects the virus only after it’s been in the bloodstream about 10 days. Still, FDA officials said current research does not support reducing the donation ban below one year.
The changes are in line with other blood bank restrictions locally, including a one-year deferral if a potential donor has traveled to an area that has malaria or had close contact with someone with hepatitis.
The new policy would also put the U.S. in line with other countries including Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
