SMS
RSS feeds
Reddit
NewsvineSan Jose State University has made headlines nationwide for banning blood drives in protest of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) policies regarding homosexual male donors. But Stanford Blood Center (SBC) condemned its neighboring college’s stance and said campus blood drives will continue.
Enlarge
San Jose State President Don Kassing announced on Jan. 27 that the school would prohibit blood drives on campus indefinitely in protest of an FDA policy, dating back to 1983, which applies a lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men.
SBC condemned the move in a press release as “a terribly misguided tactic that could have a devastating impact on the blood supply and, therefore, patients in our community.”
The policy is part of safety restrictions set by the FDA that include donation “deferrals” for those who have traveled internationally. The FDA limits the percentage of eligible donations in the country to 39 percent of the population, according to the SBC. Homosexual men are considered a risk group because they continue to be more likely to contract and spread HIV then heterosexual men.
Both San Jose State and SBC officials they would prefer a one-year deferral for homosexual activity, which falls in line with recommendations from both America’s Blood Centers and the American Red Cross. The SBC expressed sympathy with the goals of San Jose, but not its methods.
“We actually met with San Jose State before they made their announcement and pled with them to reconsider,” said Michele Hyndman, representative for the Stanford Blood Center. “We’re having a hard enough time getting blood, and this just makes our job even more difficult.”
Even with blood supply shortages, Hyndman said that ensuring the health of donation recipients is crucial.
“Our biggest concern is supplying a safe and adequate blood supply,” she said. “But safety comes first with that. We have to make sure the blood is as safe as it can possibly be.”
In practical terms, a change to the one-year deferral would likely have little impact upon the donor supply, as any homosexual man who had sex in the year before trying to donate would be denied.
“We simply want homosexual sex to be considered consistent with other risk factors,” Hyndman said. “We’re particularly concerned that it might seem like discrimination.”
The SBC urges a commitment to more cautious forms of protest.
“As long as there is an increased risk for homosexual men, the FDA will have some kind of policy,” Hyndman said. “We just hope that with a combined effort of political pressure and science we might make them make their policy more lenient.”