More than 40 years later, the viral cause of AIDS is well established and detection tools have advanced. The lifetime restriction on blood donations made by gay and bisexual men that quickly became policy was intended to help stop the spread of AIDS. Additionally, researchers learned that HIV could be transmitted through blood, including blood transfusions. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, had not yet been discovered, but it had become clear that men who had sex with men were at particularly high risk for AIDS. Such restrictions were first applied in the 1980s. Why single out men who have sex with men? So it makes sense to eliminate unnecessary restrictions on who can donate blood, right? And yet, one group of potential blood donors - men who have sex with men (MSM) - is not eligible to donate blood if they’ve been sexually active in the last three months, according to FDA guidelines. A severe shortage could require difficult decisions about who should or shouldn’t receive a transfusion - decisions with life-or-death consequences.
And since donated red blood cells only last about six weeks, supplies cannot be stockpiled in advance. Donations dropped off so dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic that the American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis.
The blood supply in the US is critically low.
