Federal government considering letting gay men donate blood despite huge rise in HIV rates
W ASHINGTON, D.C. , December 5, 2013 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) – The federal government is considering changing its lifetime ban regarding blood donations from sexually active homosexuals. The news comes less than a week after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that in 48 states men who have sex with men (MSM) represent the majority of HIV/AIDS sufferers . Today members of the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability will be hearing seven presentations on the issue. The committee declined to change the policy in 2010. Existing policy bars men who have had sex at least once since 1977 from donating blood for life, due to the high risk of exposure to HIV/AIDS. Other countries , such as Spain and Italy, have lifted their bans. Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Britain have a one-year deferral after sex. Canada has a five-year deferral policy. The nation's major blood bank organizations – the American Association of Blood Banks (AAB