?

M en w h o h av e
h ad sex w i t h
ot h er m en at
an y t i m e si n ce
1977, t h e
begi n n i n g of t h e
AI DS ep i d em i c
i n t h e Un i t ed
St at es, ar e
cu r r en t l y
d ef er r ed as
bl ood d on or s?
Saysthe

What isAIDS?
Acquired Immune Def iciency
Syndrome, short ened AIDS, is caused
by HIV. Some peopl e may ref er t o AIDS
as advanced HIV inf ect ion. HIV is a virus
t hat gradual l y at t acks immune syst em
cel l s. As HIV progressivel y damages
t hese cel l s, t he body becomes more
vul nerabl e t o inf ect ions, which it wil l

"ABANONGAYBLOOD"
BLOODDONATIONBANSFOR'MSM'

have dif f icul t y in f ight ing of f . It is at

t he point of very advanced HIV
inf ect ion t hat a person is said t o have
AIDS. If l ef t unt reat ed, it can t ake
around t en years bef ore HIV has
damaged t he immune syst em enough
f or AIDS t o devel op.
- AVERT

2.1 M i l l i on Di e
Ev er y Year
Fr om Fed er al
Di scr i m i n at i on

Go to https://goo.gl/alxhOZ and sign

the petition
| www.FDA.gov | www.Avert.org | www.CDC.gov | www.ThinikProgress.org | hab.HRSA.gov |
| www.SouthernAIDSStrategy.org | www.HuffingtonPost.org | www.FiveThirtyEight.com |

By: Jackson Horne

EveryoneShouldHaveTheRight ToSaveLives
TheFDAcurrentlyupholdsapolicythat anyManwhohashasSexwithaMan(MSM) inthepast year is
deferredfromdonatingblood,plasma,andorganstoanyorganizationunder thepower of theFDAor CDC.
-

The current policy asks for a man to

Nearly 70 million people have been left

wait at least t welve m ont hs after

without blood because of this ban since

having sex with another man before

it was put in place.

IgnoringTheScience?

The FDA has realized that the risk of

"Evidencethat thenew[oneyear] policystill ignoresthescience

giving blood.
-

The Maximum time before

contracting HIV from a blood donation

HIV/AIDS can be detected in the

is 1 in 1.5 million. A 0.0000007 chance

blood is t hr ee m ont hs, with the

of infection that the FDA has banned an

average being around one

entire community for.

month.
-

Ever y bat ch of donated blood is

tested for multiple blood related

inaveryimportant footnoteinthedraft: ?Throughout this

guidancetheterm?sex?referstohavinganal,oral,or vaginal sex,

Only thirty-eight percent of the US male

regardlessof whether or not acondomor other protectionis

population is eligible to donate blood.

used.'"

Only three percent of the US

male population identifies as

diseases, including HIV.

-

onHIVtransmissioninfavor of stigmatizinggaysexcanbefound

either homosexual or bisexual.

Nearly 700,000 people every year are

MoreDangerous
AfricanAmericanFemalesintheSoutharecurrentlyhigher risk

however, nearly nine per cent

factorsfor blooddrives. Studieshaveshownthat thepercentage

donation can save up to three lives

of men have had sex with

of AfricanAmericanFemaleswithHIV/AIDSishigher thanthe

meaning that the FDA's current policy

another man at some point in

MSMcommunity. Theyarenot currentlybanned(nor shouldthey

deprives nearly 2.1 m illion people of

their lives.

be) fromdonatingbloodandorgansasthat wouldbeobviously

deferred from donating blood. One

donated blood every year, which is

most likely fatal to the donee.

The FDA could easily raise the

amount of donors from 38% to
46% by simply lifting the ban.

discriminatory.